


king of hearts.

by winniewinko



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alcohol Withdrawal, Alternate Universe - After College/University, Anal Sex, Complicated Relationships, Denial of Feelings, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Miscommunication, Nothing Too Explicit!!, Oral Sex, Pining, Rich Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, dong si cheng | winwin needs a hug, most of em just fluff, not as sad as it sounds, past dong si cheng | winwin/kim dongyoung | doyoung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:34:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29392053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winniewinko/pseuds/winniewinko
Summary: he hasn’t started his complicated relationship with jaehyun in hope for it to lead into something romantic — but sicheng is only human and his poor heart isn’t immune to jaehyun's charms. jaehyun’s kind, rich, caring, and so handsome it borders on insulting.in other words — falling for his fuckbuddy is sicheng’s worst decision yet.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	1. we should be together, you should know.

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! it's me again, back with another jaewin fic. soooo long story short this was supposed to be an oneshot but... somehow it got long??? blame it on jaewin (please drop a selca mfs) but I hope y'all enjoy it nonetheless <3
> 
> p.s: the sex is only plot-convenient so please don't have high hopes for it. I can't write smut to save my life.  
> p.p.s: happy jaehyun day <3

1.

“ this is the fourth day I see you here this week .”

the bar tonight is fairly empty since it’s a tuesday. sicheng looks up to the bartender, who slides a glass of vodka over to him. he takes it and thanks her, drinking it in one shot, ignoring the fact he’s been drinking for an hour straight on an empty stomach.

the bartender – seunghee – sighs and leans forward the counter. “ you know, it’s highly unhealthy to drink this much .”

sicheng places the glass back onto the counter, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. faint hip-hop music plays in the background and sicheng spares the dance floor a glance before turning back to seunghee.

“ I know .” he replies in a slow tone.

he knows it’s bad. everyone tells him that, but stopping isn’t easy. especially when drinking has always been his coping mechanism.

“ as much as I hate meddling in people’s business, I have to ask ,” she pauses, studying sicheng. “ is it about doyoung ?”

sicheng’s mood has been downhill for the day, and now it’s completely gone at the mere mention of the man. 

kim doyoung, his ex-boyfriend who left him three months ago. it was because they couldn’t do long-distance, and doyoung’s job requires him to travel a lot. they’re meant to break up in good terms but sicheng doesn’t contact him more than absolute necessary – since he’s obviously still in love with him.

“ you’re better off not sticking your nose in people’s business .” sicheng grumbles – though there isn’t much bite to his tone. he’s rather tired than annoyed and seunghee knows that. even if he’s annoyed, she’s not the one at the receiving end.

“ sicheng, please. I’m sorry for meddling but you know I care about you .” seunghee says. when sicheng doesn’t answer she pats his hand sympathetically and scurries around the bar when another costumer comes.

his phone beeps and sicheng takes it out from his pocket. _speaking of the devil_ , he says as he skims doyoung’s text and deletes it on the spot. he doesn’t even bother to read it because he knows doyoung is just trying to be a good friend since he feels guilty. 

doyoung only contacts him because he’s sorry, and sicheng hates that. he wants doyoung to contact him because he _wants_ to. out of all people, sicheng doesn’t need doyoung’s pity.

when he looks up, a mug of orange juice is shoved to his face.

“ drink this .” seunghee commands. “ it’s on me. get something to eat when you go home .”

usually sicheng hates it when people worry about him too much, but tonight he feels rather grateful. he takes it and thanks seunghee, sipping the sweet juice in small quantities, before eventually finishing it.

sicheng’s phone beeps again. this time, the id reads jaehyun. he looks up from the screen; seunghee is attending another costumer and doesn’t pay him any attention. he presses open.

**_jaehyun_ ** _: hey pretty, wanna meet up? my place ;)_

sicheng bites his bottom lip. jaehyun – he’s objectively a nice guy from a well-to-do family. handsome, rich, kind, and smart. sicheng’s known him since college years, and they keep in contact since their friend groups overlap, but sicheng’s not exactly close with him. until two months ago.

after his break-up, sicheng met jaehyun at another club downtown. the korean male was drinking heavily that night, and he told sicheng he got rejected by supposedly the love of his life – so it was natural that sicheng felt empathy for him. sicheng took him home since he was too drunk to drive, but he didn’t expect to wake up in jaehyun’s bed. 

their relationship is sorta like friends-with-benefits, but they still hang-out regularly.

they do meet for sex sometimes. never twice in the same week, though, so sicheng hesitates to say yes since he just rolled out of jaehyun’s bed yesterday night. he doesn’t want to get attached.

but since he’s already gone at this point, why not?

**_winwin_ ** _: be there in 10._

he pockets his phone and leaves a fifty-dollar note on the counter. sending a quick text to his neighbour taeyong he won’t be home tonight so he wouldn’t worry, sicheng shrugs his jacket on and leaves.

jaehyun’s place isn’t very far from the bar. it’s only seven to ten minutes walking, and sicheng arrives right on the promised time. as expected jaehyun opens the door with a smile on his face, not exactly doing a subtle job in checking sicheng out.

sicheng eyes him down too. jaehyun is wearing a plain black tee, which is typical jaehyun, and too-short shorts that are completely an insult in this weather. and also an insult to sicheng’s libido. he gets horny quicker when he’s drunk and jaehyun seems like he’s aware of this fact. 

“ have you been drinking ?” jaehyun asks once he lets sicheng in, following him from behind like a puppy.

sicheng sweeps a hand through his hair, sighing. “ save it. I’m here to fuck, not to hear you nagging at me .”

“ whoa, chill ,” jaehyun chuckles and isn’t offended at all. “ so eager, aren’t you .”

sicheng rolls his eyes and grabs jaehyun by the collar, catching him in a lip-lock. jaehyun returns it just as quick. it’s a challenge to go to jaehyun’s room without breaking the kiss, but with some sheer luck they manage to, and jaehyun locks the door first thing first when they get in.

after they get to the bed the roles change quickly. the older male pins sicheng down to his mattress, kissing him gently as opposed to his hands that are cradling sicheng’s face in a rather rough way. sicheng doesn’t mind – he likes the contrast. 

jaehyun trails down, smothering sicheng’s jaw and neckline with butterfly kisses all over his skin and his fingers trailing along the chinese’s half-exposed chest. he pauses only to take his clothes off along with sicheng’s, kissing him on the mouth again right after. 

sicheng lets jaehyun do all the work, like he always does. it’s not like jaehyun minds anyways – he likes being in charge.

jaehyun continues to kiss down sicheng’s thighs; biting and sucking on the sensitive skin until it leaves a few marks. sicheng bites his bottom lip to suppress a moan. his hands tug on jaehyun’s hair until it hurts because he knows jaehyun is ignoring his hardon on purpose.

“ jae, please ,” he breathes out. “ stop fucking teasing .”

jaehyun hums, slapping the side of sicheng’s thigh. “ patience .”

he complies anyways. taking sicheng’s briefs off in one motion, he wraps his hand around sicheng’s length and pumps it in lazy strokes. it’s enough to turn sicheng into a moaning mess, though. jaehyun absolutely loves how easy it is to push the younger to his edge especially when he’s drunk. 

his thumb flicks over the head, sicheng’s pre-cum dripping down his hand. jaehyun’s eyes meet sicheng’s when he licks a stripe of the clear liquid, smirking when sicheng’s eyes roll back, and continues to take sicheng’s shaft in his mouth. he bobs his head up and down in a slow, teasing pace while his finger circles sicheng’s rim to further drive him insane.

he only gets to the middle before he pulls off with a loud, lewd pop sound.

“ enough of this. I wanna fuck you .”

he reaches up and kisses sicheng again, letting the chinese taste his own pre-cum. sicheng pushes him onto his back once they part and jaehyun looks up at him in confusion.

sicheng’s cheeks are rosy when he blurts out, “ I wanna ride you .”

jaehyun quirks a brow in amusement. it’s kinda rare to see sicheng wanting to do most of the work, but he’s certainly not complaining when the younger aligns jaehyun’s fully-hard dick to his hole. 

“ wait ,” jaehyun says, holding sicheng’s waist firmly to stop him. “ I should prep you first –“

“ I don’t want to .” sicheng replies.

“ you sure? I don’t want to hurt you .”

“ I’m sure .” sicheng nods, sinking farther down. 

his ass swallows jaehyun’s member entirely and sicheng chokes out a cry. jaehyun pulls him by the nape and kisses him again softly, whispering sweet nothings into his ear to reassure him. sicheng’s hands clench so tight on both of his shoulders they’d surely leave crescent-shaped marks yet jaehyun doesn’t find it in himself to care.

it’s hard to ride someone in his headspace but sicheng does a fairly good job. jaehyun’s hands guide his waist down along to the slamming of his own hips, and sicheng knows it won’t be long until he reaches his climax, not when jaehyun is peppering his face with kisses and his dick slamming right to sicheng’s prostate.

sicheng comes onto jaehyun’s stomach, dropping his head to the crook of jaehyun’s neck as he does. his hole clenches around jaehyun’s length and the older curses loudly before he releases his seed into sicheng.

they’re both panting heavily, and jaehyun chuckles as he pats sicheng’s head. “ you did well, pretty .”

sicheng hums in return, too tired to give a coherent respond. jaehyun kisses his temple tenderly before he gets up to wrap them with a blanket, whispering a goodnight to sicheng, who’s already knocked out.

2.

sicheng is driving home from work when jaehyun calls him out of all sudden.

_“ winwinie !”_ is the first thing he says once sicheng plugs his earbud in. sicheng winces a bit. _“ thanks god you picked up. I need your help .”_

“ what is it ?”

_“ can you pick me up from work ?”_

sicheng blinks. out of all questions, he hasn’t expected this one from jaehyun. of course – he’s jung jaehyun, works at his own father’s company, a black card holder – and their family owns more cars than one even need in their life.

“ what happened to your porsche? or lambo? or, I don’t know, mercedes ?”

_“ I don’t have a freaking lambo. I went to work with my dad today but he’s going home late, and you know I don’t like using public transportation .”_

“ ah, yes. the good ol’ rich people problem literally no one else gives a damn about .” sicheng replies nonchalantly. jaehyun snorts.

_“ c’mon, do your friend a favour .”_

“ sure. I’ll be there in a moment .”

_“ thanks. I love you .”_ jaehyun mimics a kissing sound before he hangs up and sicheng rolls his eyes, even if the older couldn’t see.

jaehyun’s workplace – the NEOCORP architecture firm – is situated right in the heart of the busy city. the traffic is the worst during office hours, so sicheng’s stuck for at least twenty minutes before he gets there. he hates being trapped in congestions but well, he could just ask jaehyun to buy him food later.

he parks his car and gets out. sicheng takes his phone out to text jaehyun – when someone calls for his name.

“ sicheng ?”

sicheng almost drops his phone. fuck. he hates how he could recognize the voice from miles away.

hesitantly, sicheng spins back. his assumption is right. “ doyoung hyung .”

it’s been a few months since he’s seen his ex. doyoung looks like usual, awfully beautiful it disgusts sicheng. 

doyoung walks over to him with his gummy smile plastered on his face. sicheng wants to run, but that’d be weird, and a social suicide if his social life isn’t already ruined.

“ it’s been a while. I didn’t think I’d bump into you here .” doyoung starts.

“ what are you doing here ?”

“ sicheng, I _work_ here ,” doyoung chuckles and sicheng almost face-palms himself. how did he forget? “ how ‘bout you? what are you doing here ?”

“ um. I’m picking jaehyun up .”

doyoung lifts a surprised brow. “ jaehyun? but you –“

“ winwinie !”

_speaking of the devil_. sicheng sighs, glad for the interruption.

jaehyun’s running to sicheng like a kid, but slows his pace down when he spots doyoung. “ oh .” he turns to doyoung then back to sicheng. “ am I disturbing something ?”

“ no. hyung was just saying hi .” sicheng replies before doyoung could, and, because he’s petty, clings to jaehyun’s arm like an overprotective girlfriend. doyoung eyes him warily but jaehyun himself doesn’t mind. 

out of all their mutual friends, only taeyong knows about their relationship. sicheng has grown to trust taeyong with every of his secret so it was natural for him to tell the older.

“ yeah. I was just asking sicheng what he’s doing here …” doyoung trails off, gaze sharp at their intertwined arms.

“ I see .” jaehyun, the ever-so-oblivious, clicks his tongue and nods.

sicheng looks up to him through his lashes, putting his best cute face on. “ let’s go eat something now. your treat .”

“ eh? when did I agree to this ?” jaehyun asks teasingly.

“ come on, I picked you up, you should treat me .” sicheng whines, shaking jaehyun’s arm for good measures. doyoung’s eyes never leave them.

“ you’re such a brat ,” jaehyun huffs, smiling. “ sure. I’m hungry anyways. care to join us, hyung ?”

sicheng snaps his head to doyoung. he doesn’t say anything, but his eyes surely scream that he doesn’t want doyoung to come.

doyoung smiles and shakes his head. thanks god. “ maybe next time .” he looks at sicheng again. “ you two enjoy your date .”

sicheng’s cheeks burn at the word _date_ but then again, jaehyun is completely unbothered.

“ we have to get going now, then. see you later, hyung .”

“ see you two later .”

doyoung flashes them the last smile before he leaves. sicheng turns back to watch doyoung leave, then suddenly jaehyun lifts his chin up using his forefinger, deadpanning him.

“ you’re using me to get even with him, aren’t you ?” he questions.

sicheng blinks his big doe eyes. “ what are you talking about ?”

“ don’t play innocent. you used me to get him to leave ,” jaehyun huffs. “ you even used your puppy eyes on me even if you never acted cute .”

“ isn’t this count as a benefit too ?” sicheng teases, smiling sweetly and tilting his head to a side, like a kitten.

fortunately, jaehyun isn’t immune to his charms. he’s about to say something yet closes his mouth in defeat and pinches sicheng’s cheeks instead.

“ whatever, you big baby. let’s go eat .” jaehyun says. feeling playful, sicheng clings to him harder.

~~~

the next time _it_ happens is the weekend after at sicheng’s place, though they don’t do much except for sicheng giving jaehyun a quick blowjob.

it’s not even supposed to happen. jaehyun only dropped by to give sicheng his jacket he left at his place, but somehow… sicheng doesn’t know how or why, it just did.

maybe it’s because he’s been too stressed out lately. work is always driving him insane while in the other hand, doyoung is still trying to contact him even if sicheng told him to stop.

sicheng’s sprawled on his bed, watching jaehyun fix himself on the mirror when his phone chimes again. sicheng reads the caller ID quickly and chucks his phone away, huffing, and this earns him jaehyun’s attention.

“ who’s that ?” he asks, spraying sicheng’s perfume all over his body. he has work in a few and he can’t risk smelling like semen. 

“ doyoung .” sicheng replies shortly. jaehyun’s close with doyoung so he doesn’t think he can rant to him anyways. surely jaehyun won’t take sides, but if he has to, he’d obviously pick doyoung.

“ you’re not gonna answer ?” 

“ no. I told him many times not to contact me anymore .”

jaehyun meets sicheng’s gaze through the mirror and, if sicheng isn’t hallucinating, he looks offended – for whatever reason. “ so he kept bothering you even after our little act ?” he pauses. “ I can deal with him for you, if you want to. trust me. maybe a punch will teach him a lesson .”

sicheng giggles. “ no need to, but thanks .”

jaehyun smiles, revealing his dimples. sicheng has always liked his dimples; in his opinion it’s normal because _who doesn’t like jaehyun’s dimples_ , and he gets an irresistible urge to poke them right now. when jaehyun leans in for a quick kiss sicheng lets him.

“ you taste like cum ,” jaehyun scrunches his nose up as he takes his wallet and keys. “ maybe you should brush your teeth .”

sicheng watches as jaehyun walk to the door, shrugging his jacket on. sometimes at times like these he wonders what it feels like to be in a relationship with jaehyun. he knows he shouldn’t let himself indulge in this fake fantasy, but well, he can’t help it.

even now when they’re nothing but fuckbuddies, jaehyun has always been kind and treats him like a king – out and during sex. jaehyun would surely make an even better boyfriend as much as he is a good friend. 

“ wait, jaehyun .” sicheng calls out, standing up.

jaehyun turns back, and lifts a brow when sicheng takes his hand and places a key on it. the korean male’s gaze flicks up to sicheng then back to the key.

“ spare key. for my house .” sicheng explains.

“ for real ?”

“ ‘course, dumbass. does it look like a fake key to you ?”

“ I feel like your boyfriend right now .” jaehyun remarks nonchalantly, earning a snort from the younger.

“ you should feel honoured .”

jaehyun leans in, smiling. “ does this mean I get to barge into your house at 3 am for cuddles from now on ?”

“ no ,” sicheng pushes him back, cheeks turning red. “ it’s for emergency .”

“ is missing your beautiful face not enough of an emergency ?” jaehyun asks in a pretentious innocent voice; sicheng deadpans him.

sicheng pushes him out instead of answering and slams the door shut. he hears jaehyun bursting into laughter from the other side – shouting a _I’ll see you later_ before he goes – and sicheng bites his bottom lip as he places a hand on his heart.

he hopes he won’t regret this – giving jaehyun full access to his life, knowing it’d give him the power to break his heart too like doyoung did. but it won’t happen if they stay this way: with no feelings involved, just a harmless relationship with no commitment. 

it _should _stay this way… though sicheng has no idea why his heart is palpitating right now.__

__

__3._ _

__it’s ten o’clock; a regular peaceful monday morning when sicheng’s beauty sleep is interrupted by a loud knocking on his bedroom door._ _

__he grunts, running a hand through his face as he groggily gets up and walks to the door. not giving a damn about his appearance he opens the door – to be greeted by the one and only jaehyun, who’s grinning like an excited puppy._ _

__a part of him glad he’s given jaehyun a spare key, though. if he hasn’t, taeyong would surely complain about his loud knocking._ _

__“ jaehyun .” he yawns and rubs his face. “ what the fuck are you doing here ?”_ _

__jaehyun grins wider as he waves two sheets of paper in front of sicheng’s face. “ I’ve got tickets for the new movie .”_ _

__“ you kidding me? at this hour ?”_ _

__“ it’s ten a.m., winwin .”_ _

__jaehyun brushes past sicheng and welcomes himself on the chinese’s bed without any invitation. sicheng stares in disbelief, sighing. he signed up for this the moment he gave jaehyun his key, anyways._ _

__“ don’t you have… like, other friends ?” he asks, closing the door. “ yuta hyung? jungwoo? mark? I don’t know, anyone else .”_ _

__jaehyun lies on his stomach, his legs swinging back and forth in the air. “ no. they don’t like sappy romance .”_ _

__“ and you suppose _I_ do ?”_ _

__“ absolutely. you do. you cried watching _the notebook_ and _titanic_ .”_ _

__damn. sicheng wishes jaehyun hasn’t known him this well sometimes._ _

__“ can’t we download it illegally and watch it here like normal people do ?”_ _

__“ nope. this is the return since you used me for doyoung that other day, so today you’re going out with me .” jaehyun stays sternly._ _

__“ fine ,” sicheng grunts. “ let me shower first at least. and you’re paying for breakfast !”_ _

__“ what’s the difference? I _always_ pay .”_ _

__sicheng pointedly ignores him and goes to take a shower._ _

__when he gets out wearing a black turtleneck with his hair neatly combed, jaehyun eyes him up and down, whistling lowly. sicheng smacks him and ignores the way his cheeks turn red, much to jaehyun’s amusement._ _

__they get to the mall by jaehyun’s car. the movie will be aired during lunch so they grab some breakfast while they wait. as promised, jaehyun paid for their food, so sicheng took the opportunity to bite more than he can chew. literally._ _

__when jaehyun takes his black card out to pay, sicheng raises his brows in amusement and says something along the lines of _having a sugar daddy_. jaehyun ignores him._ _

__“ what movie are we watching, exactly ?” sicheng asks, sucking on the soda-flavoured lollipop he asked jaehyun to buy._ _

__jaehyun tries to steal a lick from the lollipop but sicheng dodges right on time._ _

__sicheng deadpans him. “ answer my question, dumbass .”_ _

__“ secret .” jaehyun winks._ _

__it’s actually not a sappy romance film – but a horror one. sicheng would’ve been mad at jaehyun for tricking him, but seeing jaehyun’s face recoils in horror, his manly scream, and him clinging to sicheng during suspense scenes are definitely worth it._ _

__after the movie ends they walk around the mall. they talk about the movie they’ve just watched, with sicheng eating a popsicle (one he also used jaehyun’s money to buy) and jaehyun stealing licks from it occasionally. sicheng would deadpan him every time he does and nudges him far away, jaehyun laughs and the circle repeats._ _

__when it happens for the sixth time, sicheng loses his patience. “ stop stealing my popsicle, asshole. I told you to get your own .”_ _

__“ it’s not as good as stealing yours .” jaehyun grins. sicheng rolls his eyes and walks faster to leave the older behind, but it’s easy for jaehyun to catch up given his long legs._ _

__jaehyun’s steps come to a halt out of the blue. sicheng raises a brow and follows his gaze, his tongue clicking when he realizes it’s an arcade._ _

__“ you wanna go in ?” he asks, glancing to jaehyun. he licks the last stripe of his popsicle, eating the cubes and tosses the stick into a nearby trash-can._ _

__“ can we ?” jaehyun asks instead of answering, eyes bright like a puppy._ _

__“ why are you asking me like I’m your mom or something ,” sicheng chuckles. “ ‘course we can .”_ _

__jaehyun beams and wastes no time to drag sicheng in, hopping and bouncing around like an overexcited kid. to be real honest, sicheng does look like his mother at the moment but he’s too amused by jaehyun’s antics to care. the older always had been a laid-back kinda guy; it’s interesting to see him like this._ _

__they play almost every game – pac-man, zombie simulators, the mini ice-hockey, and racing games. sicheng also beats jaehyun’s ass at every game (contrary to his competitive side, jaehyun is very unlucky) except for basketball. jaehyun’s _terribly_ good at basketball and – not making it any better for sicheng – he also looks _terribly_ good._ _

__fed-up of the game, sicheng leans against his booth as he watches jaehyun play. he ran out of tokens anyways._ _

__“ do you need to be this competitive playing kid’s game ?” he comments, crossing his arms. jaehyun spares him a glance the same time the ball goes through the hoop again and smirks._ _

__“ says the one who almost murdered the poor racing game ,” jaehyun snorts as he turns away. sicheng scoffs. “ cut me some slack. I haven’t played basketball since forever .”_ _

__“ by the looks of it, you haven’t went to arcade since forever too .”_ _

__“ yeah. the last time I went, I was with seyeon –“_ _

__jaehyun cuts himself off, pressing his mouth shut. sicheng sees his jaw tenses and how his eyes lose their glow after saying the name. it’s no wonder – seyeon is jaehyun’s long-term crush, the woman who rejected him multiple times._ _

__sicheng looks away. he knows the feeling of heartbreak very well._ _

__though as bizarre as it sounds, his own break-up doesn’t seem to bother him that much nowadays. in fact, he finds himself thinking of doyoung less and less when he’s with jaehyun._ _

__the machine beeps to indicate time’s over. jaehyun broke his own record, again, and manages a half-hearted smug smile when he nudges sicheng. sicheng rolls his eyes with a smile._ _

__“ do you have any tokens left ?” sicheng asks._ _

__jaehyun pockets his hand and nods. “ about eight ,” he looks up. “ why ?”_ _

__“ good. the photobooth is seven tokens. let’s go .” sicheng detaches himself from the booth and is about to march towards the photobooth before jaehyun holds his wrist._ _

__“ not that I mind, but why ?”_ _

__“ you said it’s been a while since you’ve been to an arcade. so why not take photos for it ?”_ _

__“ we have phones .”_ _

__“ it’s not the same .” sicheng insists. jaehyun gives him a confused look._ _

__“ you don’t strike me as person who takes photographs for normal days .”_ _

__“ who said it’s normal? today’s the day you’ll fall in love with me .” he jokes nonchalantly as he drags jaehyun to the booth. jaehyun snorts again, though he’s smiling._ _

__they take a lot of pictures. at first, it’s harmless. they took decent pictures, poses varying from cute to weird. then sicheng starts to use many cringe-worthy filters much to jaehyun’s frustration – but it backfires quickly._ _

__to stop him, jaehyun back-hugs him and wraps his arms around sicheng’s waist securely so he couldn’t fuck with the settings again. sicheng stops moving altogether, dumbfounded and caught off-guard._ _

__sicheng’s sure there’s other ways to stop him, other _harmless_ ways, because his heartbeat loses its pace when jaehyun hooks his chin on his shoulder.  
he’s not sure why, he usually couldn’t care less whenever jaehyun touched him. they’re friends-with-benefits, for god’s sake, they had sex and touched each other all the time. but this feels different – it feels more real._ _

__“ you’re not breathing ,” jaehyun laughs against his ear, dangerously close. sicheng gulps. “ am I suffocating you ?”_ _

__jaehyun’s about to detach himself when sicheng doesn’t answer, yet sicheng takes his arms immediately and wraps them around his own waist again._ _

__“ no. this is fine .” sicheng answers rather shyly._ _

__jaehyun hums. he either doesn’t notice sicheng’s cherry-like face or ignores it. “ okay then. smile .”_ _

__the pictures come out nice, especially the ones where jaehyun back-hugs him. for somewhat reason his heart beats faster when sicheng stares at the pictures._ _

__jaehyun pokes his side and sicheng hides the picture at once, his face flushes red when he’s caught red-handed. “ I know I’m handsome, but please don’t stare at it for too long .”_ _

__“ as if ,” sicheng says, though his voice cracks mid-ways. jaehyun raises his brows in amusement. “ don’t flatter yourself .”_ _

__jaehyun laughs and wraps an arm around sicheng as they walk. sicheng pockets the photograph, ignoring how rapid his heartbeat is. this is bizarre. why is he acting like a fifteen-year-old teenager around jaehyun?_ _

__they eat after that and stroll some more before they agree to go home. jaehyun drives sicheng home, since he picked him up, and their places aren’t that far from each other’s anyways. when jaehyun pulls out in front of his lawn, sicheng unbuckles his seatbelt and thanks him._ _

__“ no problem. thanks for today .” jaehyun smiles, dimples and all._ _

__“ you too. and, as good as I look today, please don’t spend too much time looking at my pictures, yeah ?”_ _

__“ says the one who stared at them for like, five minutes .”_ _

__sicheng deadpans as he pinches jaehyun’s side and the older erupts into laughter. it’s dark outside, and while sicheng’s usually afraid of the dark jaehyun’s laughter makes tonight feels like a bright summer day._ _

__sicheng shakes his head. what is he even saying? he’s scaring himself today._ _

__“ go on, pretty. I’ll wait until you safely go in .” jaehyun says, nodding to his porch._ _

__sicheng hesitates. he turns to jaehyun, biting his bottom lip. “ you… wanna come in ?”_ _

__jaehyun grins._ _

__“ thought you’d never ask .”_ _

__jaehyun jumps out from the car before sicheng even opens his door. sicheng rolls his eyes fondly, nudging jaehyun on the side before he unlocks his front door and allows him in. jaehyun makes himself comfortable on the couch while sicheng dashes straight to his bathroom._ _

__sicheng takes a quick shower and changes his clothes. he shrugs on a comfortable pink hoodie and shorts, also taking out spare clothes for jaehyun because the older doesn’t look like he’s going home tonight._ _

__sicheng’s right. when he gets out, jaehyun is already waiting on his bed, and if he’s a puppy he’d be wagging his tail by now._ _

__jaehyun pats the empty space next to him._ _

__“ cuddles. now .” he demands._ _

__“ you’re insufferable .” sicheng huffs yet complies._ _

__sicheng tells him to roll over because _left side is mine_ and jaehyun obeys, grinning when sicheng lies down next to him. jaehyun doesn’t even wait until sicheng settles down and wraps his arms around the younger’s waist, pulling him closer to his chest, and entangles their legs together._ _

__don’t get him wrong, he hates skin-ships – but sicheng doesn’t mind when it comes to jaehyun. maybe because they’re comfortable with each other. plus, sicheng likes jaehyun’s warmth._ _

__or maybe there’s another reason but sicheng doesn’t think he can admit that._ _

__“ I forgot to tell you something ,” jaehyun starts. his fingers idly play with sicheng’s pointed ear. “ I’ve recently got a new project for a shopping complex .”_ _

__“ shopping complex? like, a mall ?” sicheng asks._ _

__“ yeah. not just any mall, though, it’s like a grand mall for exclusive brands. like a mall for rich people .”_ _

__“ so it’s a capitalist mall .” sicheng concludes. jaehyun chuckles behind him._ _

__“ sorta .”_ _

__“ what it’s like ?”_ _

__jaehyun hums, bringing sicheng impossibly closer to him. if they’re face-to-face, maybe he can feel sicheng’s heartbeat. “ I don’t know yet. what do you think ?”_ _

__“ hm. there are seven floors .”_ _

__“ why seven ?”_ _

__“ it’s my favourite number ,” sicheng pauses. “ and there’s a lot of restaurants… and bakeries. candies shop, too. can’t forget cafes .”_ _

__jaehyun laughs again. his laugh is hearty and full, and sicheng smiles to himself._ _

__“ is this a mall or a food festival ?”_ _

__“ the food will attract visitors. trust me .” sicheng says with confidence._ _

__“ enough about the shops. what does it look like ?”_ _

__“ have you ever wondered why all malls are like, white ?” sicheng questions. jaehyun contemplates – then nods. “ make it… pink .”_ _

__jaehyun barks out an amused chuckle. “ pink ?”_ _

__“ not like bright pink. pastel pink. it’s pretty. and add like, a chick water-statue on the ground floor just because you can .”_ _

__sicheng turns to look at jaehyun over his shoulder to say something stupid about _making it shoot coke instead of water_ – but he freezes in place when he realizes jaehyun’s been staring at him all along._ _

__even in the dark, he could see the tender look on jaehyun’s face and the faintest of smile on his lips. he doesn’t even shy away once sicheng’s caught him, instead he grins wider, and god was his smile beautiful._ _

__flustered, sicheng looks away first._ _

__he could feel jaehyun’s lips against the back of his head and sicheng’s entire face burn. it doesn’t help that jaehyun’s grip around his waist tightens._ _

__“ I’ll see what I can do. can’t promise ‘bout the pink part, though. I’ll make sure you become the first one to see it when it’s done .”_ _

__sicheng nods. stiff. “ alright .”_ _

__“ good night, pretty .” jaehyun hums._ _

__“ night .” sicheng whispers back._ _

__he couldn’t sleep a wink that night._ _

__

__4._ _

__work is hell today._ _

__sicheng’s head spun from drinking the night before, and he got a major migraine during a meeting much to his boss’s chagrin. thus it earned him some scolding, adding more to his headache, and left him wanting to evaporate into the horizon._ _

__luckily during lunch he gets to escape early after submitting his work._ _

__yukhei, his friend whom he also met at a club, had invited him for lunch together. yukhei’s pretty cool, even if he’s a college student sicheng thinks he’s matured for his age. to make everything better he always finds way to soothe sicheng’s stress – so sicheng agrees without much thought._ _

__but today, out of all days, yukhei chooses to nag at him._ _

__“ look, I don’t wanna be a busy-body ge, but I think you’ve been drinking too much ,” he says as he stirs his drink using a straw. “ maybe you should lay it off for a while .”_ _

__sicheng swallows the chicken sandwich he’s eating and deadpans yukhei. “ seriously? I came here after getting nagged at for, like, four hours and now you wanna nag at me too ?”_ _

__“ I told you, I didn’t want to be noisy, but I’m just concerned, okay? it’s really unhealthy for you, if you didn’t figure it out. but if you think I’m nagging then I’ll stop .” yukhei raises his hand defensively._ _

__sicheng sighs. he takes another bite of his sandwich, eyes casted downwards._ _

__“ I know. I’m sorry. that’s just… drinking is my way to cope .”_ _

__“ with what ?” yukhei raises a brow, words slurred as he drinks his smoothie._ _

__“ feelings ,” sicheng swallows again. “ stress. shit like that .”_ _

__“ language .”_ _

__the older male rolls his eyes. “ you’re twenty-one, not eleven .”_ _

__“ yeah, still. back to topic, though. there’s many other ways to cope… wait, is this about doyoung hyung again ?”_ _

__“ no .” sicheng bites his bottom lip. “ another man .”_ _

__yukhei lifts a brow. “ jaehyun ?”_ _

__sicheng throws his head back and groans. he regrets telling yukhei about his relationship with jaehyun. he should’ve never told anyone. damn his drunk self, always snitching on his sober side._ _

__“ so it _is_ jaehyun. are you two together now ?”_ _

__“ that’s sorta the problem …” sicheng trails off, looking down to his shoes._ _

__“ what do you mean ?”_ _

__sicheng takes a deep breath and sighs. it’s been a whole week. a week since their friendly-date, and a week since sicheng’s been thinking about what he truly feels about jaehyun. he’s been asking himself why he gets flustered by the littlest things jaehyun does, why he doesn’t feel it towards anyone else except for doyoung back then, and why _now_._ _

__he doesn’t get why he likes skin-ships with jaehyun, smiles every time he gets a text from jaehyun even if it’s stupid, or even looking forward to spend time with him. he told himself it’s just a stupid crush because jaehyun’s been kind to him. but deep down, he himself isn’t even convinced._ _

__“ I think… I might’ve caught feelings for him .” he confesses._ _

__“ so you think you like him ,” yukhei pauses. “ to be honest I think it was bound to happen, just a matter of time. have you talked about it to him ?”_ _

__“ no. that’s the thing. I can’t. the whole ordeal was only to be fuckbuddies. no commitment, no feelings, nothing .”_ _

__“ the ordeal isn’t a crime punishable by death if broken. I’m sure he’ll listen to you if you try to talk about it. jaehyun hyung is thoughtful, I’m sure he won’t mind .” yukhei reasons, pointing his fork to sicheng._ _

__“ I don’t know. confrontation? not my thing .”_ _

__“ so you just gonna sit and drink your sorrow away like a loser ?”_ _

__“ what’s the point in trying to talk, anyways? he likes someone else .” sicheng shoots back._ _

__yukhei rolls his eyes. “ ge, you’re stupid. just talk to him about it. you’re adults, for god’s sake, you can communicate. maybe he can help you – hell, maybe he feels the same way about you .”_ _

__“ what if he doesn’t ?”_ _

__“ up to you. maybe you can just carry on with this relationship of yours, or stop altogether. anything you want. I just don’t want you heartbroken at last .”_ _

__sicheng contemplates as he stares idly at his food. yukhei’s right, he should talk. the problem wouldn’t solve itself if he just sits and mourn over his (probably) one-sided admiration. at least if he lets it out, he wouldn’t feel this miserable._ _

__maybe later, though. he’s not ready yet.  
_ _

**time-skip.**

sicheng set his phone on do not disturb during lunch, and he turns it on to see 5 missed calls and 34 texts from jaehyun. in the span of thirty minutes. he sighs; jaehyun gotta be the clingiest friend-with-benefit in the whole world.

if he has to be honest, though, he misses jaehyun just as much (if not, more) since it’s been a week since they’ve met.  
when he gets home that night, jaehyun is sprawled on his couch, half-naked, with a glass of wine in hand. sicheng rolls his eyes. he has to revoke jaehyun’s privileges soon.

jaehyun turns to him, smiling. “ you’re home .”

“ you act like we’re married or something ,” sicheng says, cringing as he kicks a pair of dirty socks on the floor away. “ I gave you my keys for emergency .”

jaehyun finishes his wine and stands up, tugging on sicheng’s tie to bend him down and match their identical height. grinning with his sinful dimples on view, he catches sicheng’s lips into a lazy, sloppy kiss. sicheng remains in place. is jaehyun drunk or something? but he’s a heavy drinker. there’s no way he’ll get drunk on wine.

jaehyun drops his head into sicheng’s neck, nipping on the skin. “ this is an emergency. I missed you .”

sicheng’s skin tingles. he wants to push jaehyun away, but he’s shirtless, and sicheng doesn’t want to touch his bare body out of sex. it feels intimate. ironic, really, but it’s true. being intimate out of sex only reminds him of what they couldn’t be. 

plus, it’s not like he doesn’t enjoy this close proximity — it’s not like he doesn’t enjoy jaehyun’s body pressed to his. he does, but he wants... more. he wants feelings.

“ did seyeon reject you again ?” sicheng asks, studying the rise and fall of jaehyun’s chest.

“ man ,” jaehyun chuckles. “ always so straightforward with your words, dong sicheng. this is why you’re my friend. just like doyoung .”

“ did you have to mention his name .” sicheng says, though he’s not really bothered. lately, doyoung’s been the least of his concern – whilst the man upon him is his biggest one.

“ sorry .” jaehyun replies albeit he doesn’t look so even in the slightest.

jaehyun loosens his tie and takes his jacket off, kissing every inch of sicheng’s skin he could reach. sicheng lets him, his fingers toying with the hem of jaehyun’s boxers, but never crosses the line. when jaehyun looks up, sicheng could see the heartbreak in his eyes.

his heart longs for someone else but, for the meantime, his body is sicheng’s. sicheng knows that. he tries to act like it doesn’t hurt.

“ you didn’t answer my calls ,” jaehyun whispers, kissing along sicheng’s jawline. “ nor my texts .”

“ I was with yukhei .”

jaehyun’s hand that was reaching for sicheng’s belt comes to a halt. “ yukhei ?” he parrots, the name familiar. “ is he your boyfriend now or something ?”

“ are you crazy? if he is, I wouldn’t be here with you now .”

“ true. you’re not the type to commit your heart and body to different people .”

sicheng almost laughs. jaehyun’s so close to the point yet he misses it. or he pretends like he doesn’t know; maybe he enjoys making sicheng feel like a fool.

that’s not possible, though. jaehyun’s a sweetheart. at least when he’s sober. he would never hurt sicheng’s feelings, always so careful and supportive, a trophy friend. 

his thoughts are cut short when jaehyun’s canine sinks into his skin. sicheng groans, clenching on jaehyun’s bare shoulders, and the older has the audacity to smirk. giving kittenish licks on the mark, jaehyun reaches to unbutton sicheng’s shirt.

“ missed you too much. it’s been a whole week since I saw you, I thought I was going crazy. I want you so bad .”

sicheng hums. “ how do you want me ?”

“ in any way possible, on any surface possible .”

“ do it ,” sicheng grabs jaehyun’s chin and kisses him, rough. he usually never really indulge in this fake relationship jaehyun has to offer, but sometimes he doesn’t think it’s wrong to use it to his wants. after all, that’s what jaehyun has been doing since day one. it’s not wrong to be selfish. “ you got me now. what are you waiting for ?”

jaehyun doesn’t. he slams sicheng on the couch, a hand pinning on sicheng’s side to prop himself up as he unzips sicheng’s jeans. sicheng takes his own shirt off, and jaehyun kisses him again.

the night has been sicheng’s best and worse one yet.

**time-skip, the next morning.**

once sicheng makes sure the water temperature is just right, he dumps a generous amount of strawberry body soap into the bathtub and watches as the clean liquid changes colours. he puts the soap back into its place and starts to undress, going leg-first into the tub. when the water drowns his body, sicheng sighs in relief and throws his head back, eyes closed shut.

he has promised himself there would be no more nights after last week – but he broke it.

nights with jaehyun might give him paradise and hell at the same time yet the morning after is always the worst. waking up before jaehyun does, getting to watch him asleep, cuddling with him when he wakes up – make everything seem romantic, when it’s not. in reality, sicheng’s the only one suffering.

dumb. that’s the only way to describe sicheng when it comes to jaehyun. 

he sighs in frustration this time and opens his eyes. the smell of strawberry lingers in the bathroom with a hint of peach. sicheng takes his shampoo and washes his hair clean, trying to get rid of any smell – _anything_ – that reminds him of jaehyun.

after making sure he’s clean enough, sicheng gets out from the tub and dries himself off. he puts his dirty shirt on back since he forgets to bring new one and gets out from the bathroom, drying his black hair that now smells like lemon rather than peach.

sicheng stares at the man sleeping peacefully on his bed. he watches as jaehyun’s bare chest rises and falls along to the rhythm of his breathing; his cheeks squished against the pillow. it’s dumb, how he looks ethereal in sicheng’s eyes doing the most minimum.

hanging his towel around his neck, sicheng reaches down to sweep some strands of hair away from jaehyun’s face, but he withdraws before he could touch him. maybe that’s going too far, he thinks as he bites his bottom lip. so instead he softly shakes jaehyun to wake him up.

jaehyun stirs yet doesn’t wake. he mumbles something incoherent, sinking his head farther into the comfort of sicheng’s pillow. something in sicheng breaks a little. how he wishes to kiss jaehyun right at the moment but he knows he couldn’t. shouldn’t.

it isn’t supposed to be like this.

it was meant to be harmless. they both were left by the ones they love, and needed to mend their broken hearts. therefore they used each other. it was supposed to be a win-win, giving benefit to each parties – but somehow feelings got involved and sicheng has never regretted his decision this much.

he’s crossed the boundaries he’s set for them.

sicheng crouches by the bed, poking jaehyun’s cheek. “ jaehyun, wake up .”

his voice seems to do the trick. jaehyun opens an eye, looking puzzled for a split second before he smiles when he spots sicheng. sicheng doesn’t smile back.

“ winwinie. morning .” he stretches his arms out – and to sicheng he looks like a kitten. when his arms fall back to his side, he pats the empty side next to him. “ come here .”

sicheng deadpans and stands up, taking his towel to completely dry his damp hair.

“ no. wake up .” he replies with no mercy.

“ come on .” jaehyun says, borderline whining.

to jaehyun’s disappointment, sicheng ignores him and scurries around to his closet and takes clean clothes out. he takes two outfits; a yellow hoodie and shorts for himself – black tee and sweats for jaehyun. the clothes he’s giving to jaehyun are the korean’s, anyways, so he’s only giving them back.

sicheng places the outfit in front of jaehyun. “ wear those and leave .” 

“ you’re cruel. don’t I get to stay for breakfast at least ?”

“ no .”

jaehyun pouts. “ winwin !”

“ I have to see xuxi in a few ,” sicheng explains. when jaehyun studies him with curious eyes, he sighs. “ nothing serious. he just wants me to teach him something for school .”

the chinese male pays him no attention when jaehyun starts to whine again. he takes his old shirt and briefs off, tosses them into the laundry basket, and wears the clothes he’s picked earlier. when he turns – as opposed to his complaints – jaehyun is also fully dressed now, though he’s still pouting as he watches sicheng.

“ I have to go .” sicheng says, fetching his wallet and keys.

“ can I at least have a kiss ?” jaehyun asks, eyes bright with hope.

sicheng pauses by the door. hand hovering on top of the knob, he spins back to jaehyun. “ you can see yourself out, right ?”

“ winwin –“

“ bye, jaehyun .”

he slams the door shut and leaves jaehyun just like that.

5.

sicheng should’ve seen it coming. really. he should’ve known the butterflies in his stomach aren’t a sign of a stupid crush.

“ _fuck_ ,” he chokes out, hands covering his face. “ I think I’m in love with him .” 

next to him, yukhei sighs and pats his back sympathetically. the bar is crowded since it’s a friday night and the loud music only worsens sicheng’s headache. he downs a shot of vodka, desperately trying to get himself drunk as soon as possible, and asks the bartender for another glass. seunghee isn’t working that night.

“ ge, I think that’s enough .”

sicheng shakes his head. “ you don’t get it, xuxi. I think I fucking love him, but he’s… he’s in love with someone else .”

“ didn’t I tell you to talk to him ?”

“ I can’t. it’s not easy. I don’t want to get my heart broken again. it hurts, xuxi, it hurts like hell .”

“ I know, ge, but do you think staying like _this_ –” yukhei gestures around the club. “ – will make it any better? no. it won’t solve anything. it’ll only worsen your condition .”

sicheng pauses. he thinks back of the first day he starts to think he’s catching feelings – their friendly-date. starting then he starts to think of jaehyun and jaehyun only; his dimpled-grin, his baritone voice, his touch, his everything.

_today’s the day you’ll fall in love with me._

oh, the irony.

why the hell did he even fell in love with jaehyun? 

he couldn’t list the reasons. it’s impossible, when he falls for the older more and more every time he’s with him.

“ if I wait long enough maybe the feelings will go away .” he blurts out.

yukhei frowns. “ that’s not how feelings work, ge. you can’t run from them .”

“ so what? it’s either I get heartbroken when he eventually dates someone else or if he rejects me, and honestly I don’t think I can deal with the second option. I’ve had enough of people dumping me .”

“ first of all, doyoung didn’t dump you, you guys broke up ,” yukhei points out. “ and rejection sucks. I know. but suppression isn’t healthy either. at least if he rejects you, you can cry over it for a while and move on after that .”

can he move on? possibly. but if he does, things won’t stay the same. gradually jaehyun will stop seeing him – and truth be told he doesn’t think he can live a life without jaehyun.

sicheng gulps down his vodka. yukhei snatches the empty glass this time, preventing sicheng from ordering another round.

“ enough for tonight, ge. let’s get you home .”

“ I don’t wanna go home .” sicheng says softly.

“ you have to .”

sicheng shakes his head. “ it reminds me of him .”

“ then… you can stay at mine for tonight .”

sicheng looks up and nods. yukhei smiles, helping him to get up and walk to the car without tripping. since he hasn’t drank even a glass tonight yukhei’s in charge of driving, and sicheng in the shotgun. the whole ride is quiet. sicheng stares out through the window and watches the sceneries change, idly humming to the songs on the radio. 

yukhei’s apartment is on the seventh level. it’s a trip to help sicheng walk properly on his feet, but yukhei manages to, with the older clinging to him all the time. when he unlocks the door sicheng gets in first, almost stumbling over the carpet.

for a college student, yukhei’s place is objectively nice. no dirty clothes or pizza boxes on the floor. sicheng likes his room best, a simple cube-shaped room with a queen bed, a closet and many posters on the walls. reminds him of his own college days.

“ you can sleep here if you want. I can take the couch –“

almost without thinking, sicheng cups yukhei’s cheeks and leans forward to match their height. yukhei, caught off-guard, blinks and stares at him as if sicheng has grown another head. sicheng caresses his jaw gently, thumb touching yukhei’s ear, a sweet smile on his face. yukhei gets the message in his eyes.

“ don’t .” yukhei says and removes sicheng’s hands from his cheeks. “ you’d regret this when you’re sober .”

sicheng bites his bottom lip, fingers trailing down yukhei’s chest. “ I’d regret not doing it more than I regret doing it .”

“ dong sicheng, are you out of your mind ?”

“ I know you want to do this, xuxi .” sicheng says. he looks up through his lashes almost in a sultry way and yukhei gulps.

his hands find their way to sicheng’s. he entwines their fingers and sicheng smiles at him, tiptoeing for a kiss, but yukhei pulls back before he could.

“ do _you_ really want to? you’re deeply in love with jaehyun, hell. even I can’t compete with him .” 

“ fuck him. I don’t care .”

“ you’re crazy .”

“ xuxi. do it for me ,” sicheng pleads. his eyes are innocently bright as opposed to the situation and yukhei could never say no to that. “ this will help me. don’t you want me to get better ?”

like eve falling for the serpent’s trick, yukhei eventually complies. he’s hesitant at first; slowly taking sicheng’s shirt off and fingers barely grazing sicheng’s skin as if he’s afraid to hurt him. it’s sicheng who takes the initiative to kiss him. 

he’s rough at first but the kiss softens when yukhei takes lead, his lips pushing sicheng’s in a slow pace. sicheng whines when yukhei slides his tongue in, turning the kiss wet and rather messy, but none of them care. sicheng’s left hand brings yukhei closer to him while his free one trails lower, playing at the hem of yukhei’s shirt.

that seems to trigger yukhei. he pushes sicheng to the bed, ripping his shirt off in a swift motion before he crawls over the older. his hands roam skilfully around sicheng’s body as he kisses sicheng again. sicheng’s fingers thread his hair when yukhei pulls back to kiss his exposed chest this time. the younger’s hand palms sicheng’s hardened member through his jeans, giving it a light squeeze and smirks when sicheng lets out a muffled moan.

“ yukhei, shit – damnit, fuck me already .” he says, borderline demanding.

yukhei is totally experienced. it’s evident in the way he makes sicheng cum without being touched, and not to mention twice before the younger even comes once. it’s a mind-blowing sex, but it’s not quite enough for sicheng.

truth be told, he doesn’t feel any spark. his skin doesn’t burn at yukhei’s touches – and he even finds himself thinking of jaehyun. he wants jaehyun; his mouth, skin, hands, his voice, and him. 

even when he’s quite literally fucked out of his mind, he couldn’t get that man away from his head.

6.

for the first time in forever, jaehyun is grinning when he walks out the meeting room.

the board of directors approved of all his – _sicheng’s suggestions_. the restaurants, bakeries, numbers of level, chick water-fountain and hell, they even agreed to paint it pink. called it as ‘branding’, which is true because it’s never been done before. sicheng is a genius and he doesn’t even know it.

naturally, his instincts makes him tell sicheng first thing first.

but when he gets to sicheng’s house, the chinese isn’t there — and when he calls him another familiar voice picks up.

_“ hello ?”_

it’s doyoung. out of all people, it’s fucking kim dongyoung.

“ do — doyoung ?” jaehyun stammers and rechecks the ID; he’s positive he pressed sicheng’s number. “ isn’t this sicheng’s phone ?”

_“ oh, you haven’t heard ?”_

jaehyun blinks. from doyoung’s tone, he knows it couldn’t be good. “ heard... what ?”

_“ sicheng is in the hospital now. he’s got alcohol poisoning .”_

jaehyun’s heart sinks. his phone almost falls from his grip, and he asks again to make sure he hasn’t misheard. hell, he knows sicheng’s been drinking a lot, he doesn’t think it’s this bad.

_“ he called me and told me he’s been vomiting a lot last night and had seizures. I called the 119, and he’s been staying here overnight .”_

a part of jaehyun feels betrayed sicheng doesn’t call _him_ , but a bigger part of him is concerned.

“ what did they do then ?”

_“ they removed toxin from his blood and gave him medications. it’s nothing serious, though, just —“_

“ I’ll be there in 5 ,” jaehyun cuts him off. “ text me his room number .”

jaehyun considers himself a responsible driver. he hasn’t ran through a red light once since he’s got his license – but now he drives at eighty when the speed limit is fifty and gives absolutely no fuck.

sicheng’s room number is 18 and jaehyun dashes straight to the room, doing his best not to collide with any staff or patients. when he gets there and slams the door open, the sight breaks his heart.

sicheng on the bed with IV drip connected to his arm. his hands tremble from where they’re sitting on his laps, his face pale. it’s a sight jaehyun never thought he’d see.

“ jaehyun ,” sicheng says, eyes wide. “ what are you doing here ?”

instead of answering, jaehyun practically runs to him and engulfs him into a hug, panting as he strokes sicheng’s hair gently. next to the bed, doyoung watches them with an unreadable look. jaehyun pays him no attention – he doesn’t really appreciate doyoung’s presence here.

when they part, jaehyun caresses sicheng’s cheeks and sighs. “ how did this happen ?”

“ I… don’t know. stuff happens .” sicheng shrugs, looking away.

“ stuff doesn’t just happen if you don’t let them .”

sicheng turns to doyoung. “ did you tell him I’m here ?”

“ he called your number ,” doyoung explains. “ plus I’m sure he has rights to know. you’re too stubborn. luckily taeyong called me or I’d never know .”

“ taeyong hyung ?” jaehyun chimes in. “ so he didn’t call you himself ?”

“ nope. coincidentally, taeyong came over to his house to give him some food, and that’s when he saw sicheng. like always, sicheng refused his help at first .”

“ I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself .” sicheng retorts.

“ clearly you can’t. if you could, you won’t end up here –“ jaehyun cuts himself off when he sees sicheng’s eyes getting teary. he sighs and cradles sicheng’s face in his hands once again. “ thanks god you’re safe .”

“ I’m fine. you’re overreacting .”

“ you got me worried sick, winwin. ‘course I’d overreact .”

“ you don’t have to, dumbass .”

“ is it wrong to care about you ?”

doyoung coughs, earning the two’s attention. jaehyun detaches his hands from sicheng while the chinese casts his eyes downwards. the oldest male stares at sicheng before he looks up to jaehyun.

“ jaehyun, can we talk ?”

“ here ?”

“ outside .”

jaehyun glances towards sicheng, who’s unfazed, and nods. doyoung gets up from his seat and walks to the door, with jaehyun in tow. the door shuts behind them. 

“ is he gonna be okay ?” jaehyun asks.

“ for now? yeah ,” doyoung crosses his arms, side-glancing jaehyun. “ long-term? not sure .”

“ what do you mean ?”

“ listen. I’ve known him for years, and the same thing happened back then. but he succeeded stopping his addiction. at least until we broke up. I have no idea how it came back, but it has to stop .”

“ do you know why he drinks ?”

“ sicheng’s not the type who enjoys drinking. he drinks to forget, not for pleasure or something. it means he must’ve been stressed out. like, really stressed out .” doyoung sighs. “ I could tell you’re special to him. you have to help him .” 

jaehyun’s ears redden.

“ I can’t help him if he doesn’t want to be helped .” jaehyun replies.

“ trust me, he does. as I said he stopped drinking back then with some help. but it has to be from someone special to him .”

“ I’m not sure if I’m really special to him but… I’ll try my best to help him .”

“ do you care about him?

“ of course ,” jaehyun says without missing a beat. “ no doubt about that .”

“ then prove it. I know you’re my superior at work but I’m speaking to you as a friend now ,” doyoung pauses as he turns to fully face jaehyun. “ please. take care of sicheng .”

jaehyun nods, no trace of hesitation. “ I will .”

doyoung pats his shoulder and bids his goodbye. jaehyun takes a deep breath and walks into the room again, this time sicheng is idly staring at a flower vase, and turns to him when the door clicks.

“ what did hyung say ?” sicheng tilts his head to a side in confusion.

“ nothing important. don’t worry .”

sicheng smiles up to him when jaehyun ruffles his hair. jaehyun smiles back, though it drops when something catches his eyes.

when he’s in a clearer state of mind, only now does jaehyun notice the glaringly red spots on sicheng’s bare neck. sicheng doesn’t meet his gaze but jaehyun could see the guilt in his eyes. he darts his attention back to sicheng’s neck, where sat three fresh-looking bruises.

jaehyun wants to say something but he couldn’t. they have no status to question.

~~~

the atmosphere is different today. it’s tense, and quiet – only some occasional moans and faint _jaehyun_ ’s slipping out from sicheng’s mouth while the older male pounds hard into him. his pace is oddly fast today, rough and harsh, slamming his dick into sicheng’s hole balls-deep with no mercy. he doesn’t even pay any attention to sicheng’s hardon.

sicheng likes it when he’s a little mean in bed.

jaehyun kisses sicheng when he reaches his climax – there’s nothing gentle about the kiss, only teeth and a lot of tongue – and groans as he ejaculates. sicheng chokes out a cry and comes as well, painting his own stomach with the white liquid.

jaehyun pulls out from him, takes the condom off and ties it before he tosses it into the trash can. he lies down next to sicheng, both panting and sweating like they’ve just ran a marathon.

sicheng turns to jaehyun. unlike usual, he’s not asking for cuddles after sex, and he’s rather zoning out now which is bizarre for jaehyun. not to mention he’s very quiet when usually he never shuts up.

“ you seem pissed off. what’s up ?” sicheng asks, studying jaehyun’s face. he wonders how even after sex, jaehyun looks like a greek god.

“ ‘bout the mall ,” jaehyun sighs. “ my team overlooked some pretty small details, and it shouldn’t be a problem if not for the cost. some sponsors and shareholders think the additional cost is too expensive. which is bullshit. it’s an amount they could pay even in their sleep .”

sicheng nods, sympathizing. “ rich people and their bullshit .” 

he rests his hand on jaehyun’s arm, and flinches when the older jerks it away. jaehyun seems surprised by his own action. sicheng could see the guilt in his eyes, and expects an apology whatsoever, but it never comes.

jaehyun gets up from the bed and scurries around to collect his clothes from the floor. “ I have to go. I have a meeting .”

sicheng sits up, slowly due to the literal pain in his ass, and watches jaehyun. jaehyun’s acting very weird today. he’s like a whole different person – distant and cold. not the warm, thoughtful jaehyun he loves.

“ you’re not gonna eat lunch ?” sicheng asks. the food taeyong gave him this morning – since the older insists to cook for him until he gets better (god knows when) – is still untouched. he wanted to eat with jaehyun.

“ I’ll eat with my team .” 

jaehyun takes a towel and cleans any remaining of semen from his body before he gets dressed. sicheng doesn’t expect him to walk over and clean him, too, but he guesses it’s still jaehyun. no matter how cold he gets sicheng knows he still care about him.

he smiles to himself.

“ you don’t have to, jae. I’ll shower after this .”

“ yeah, but I can ,” jaehyun shrugs. he naturally leans in for a kiss, but withdraws much to sicheng’s disappointment – and ruffles sicheng’s hair instead. “ I’ll see you later, win .”

he doesn’t spare sicheng another glance after that. when the door slams shut, the room feels empty.

sicheng sighs. he doesn’t want to get up, but if he stays in bed like this he knows he won’t do anything but weep over his unrequited love, and also jaehyun’s sudden personality change. slowly but surely, he stands up and walks to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

usually, he loves being alone. but right now the comfort of having a company is what he needs most – and the best option right now is none other than his parent-like neighbour, taeyong.

“ sicheng ?” taeyong blinks confusedly when he opens the door. he lets sicheng in nonetheless, and studies him cautiously as he closes the door. “ are you okay? something happened ?”

“ I’m fine. is it okay that I dropped by so suddenly ?” sicheng asks. his eyes wander around taeyong’s living room. it’s not his first time here, but the cleanliness of taeyong’s house amazes him just the same.

“ of course it’s okay. did you eat what I gave you ?”

“ not yet. sorry .”

taeyong frowns. “ why? is it bad ?” 

“ no, no! I’m sure it’s fine… I just ,” sicheng pauses, eyes cast downwards. “ I need a company .”

taeyong’s gaze softens at once. he drags sicheng to the couch gently, and sits next to the chinese, worry obviously displayed on his beautiful face. sicheng wants the couch to swallow him whole now because he knows taeyong will turn this to an interrogation session.

“ what happened, sicheng ?” he asks. his voice isn’t accusing, rather concerned than anything. sicheng wishes he’s not very see-through sometimes (or maybe taeyong is too observant).

“ I told you. nothing .” he lies.

“ you can’t trick me, kid. you won’t come here willingly unless you have a trouble .”

sicheng pouts. “ you think so lowly of me .”

“ it’s true, isn’t it ?”

sicheng gives taeyong his best puppy eyes but taeyong doesn’t buy it. he deadpans sicheng, lifting an accusatory brow. sicheng gives up and sighs; he can’t hide anything from taeyong anyways.

“ can we at least eat ice cream while talking about this ?”  
worried or not, taeyong could never deny sicheng’s wants. he gets up and returns with a whole pint of matcha ice cream (sicheng’s favourite) and a spoon. sicheng’s face lights up at once.

wasting no time, sicheng scoops a spoonful and lets himself indulge in the richness of the ice cream. taeyong watches him, a hand propping his head, and smiles to himself. sicheng offers him some yet taeyong shakes his head no.

“ I don’t want your ice cream. what I want is to know what’s wrong with you .”

sicheng lets the ice cream melt on his tongue before he answers. “ feelings .”

taeyong contemplates for a while. he doesn’t look surprised in the slightest. sicheng might be good at solving his own problems, but he’s the worst when it comes to deal with feelings.

“ it couldn’t be about doyoung ,” he pauses. “ is it jaehyun ?”

sicheng looks up, eating another spoonful.

“ how’d you know ?”

“ it’s not hard to connect two-and-two together. I remember you after your break-up. you were miserable. went out to drinks and stuff. but after you met jaehyun – I meant, after you met him again, you became normal, stopped drinking for a bit ,” taeyong pauses, sighing. “ then suddenly you started again .”

taeyong stops, something clicking. “ does kun know about – all this ?”

sicheng shakes his head no. he can’t let kun know, it’s his worst nightmare. knowing the older, not only he would book the nearest flight to korea, he would also drag sicheng back to china.

“ you should let him know. he deserves to .”

silence. sicheng keeps eating his ice cream, avoiding taeyong’s gaze.

“ do you like jaehyun ?” taeyong blurts out.

sicheng freezes. it’s something he couldn’t deny yet he would never admit. and he doesn’t have to, because taeyong knows.

“ look, jaehyun’s a nice guy. hell, he even made you, dong sicheng, fall in love with him. he’s a gentleman. he’ll understand if you talk to him .”

“ what’s the point, hyung? he likes someone else .” sicheng replies half-heartedly.

“ how are you so sure he still likes them ?”

“ he talks about her .”

“ how often, exactly ?”

another pregnant pause. sicheng thinks for a while, biting the spoon idly.

to be completely honest, taeyong has a point. jaehyun hasn’t mentioned seyeon once for a month. the last time he did, it was at the arcade. the day sicheng falls in love with him.

“ I’ve seen the way he looks at you, sicheng. whatever you two have between you, it’s not something you can fake. it’s genuine .” taeyong adds.

sicheng doesn’t answer. taeyong rests a hand on sicheng’s thigh, earning the younger’s attention. desperation is visible in his eyes and his tone as he speaks.

“ sicheng. please. communication is key. I can’t stand to see you going back to your drinking habits as your way to cope with feelings. you’re my friend, I love and care for you. you should talk .”

something swells in sicheng. he wants to cry, wants to let it all out, but he doesn’t. luckily, taeyong’s a good body language reader so he spreads his arms – and sicheng pulls him into a hug. taeyong draws out a sigh and strokes his hair; sicheng burying his head into taeyong’s chest. 

they break apart when taeyong’s phone chimes. it was to sicheng’s luck, honestly, because he’s just about to cry and thanks god he doesn’t. not that he thinks crying is a sign of weakness or whatever – he doesn’t want to ruin his eyeliner. 

“ it’s a text from doyoung. he told me to remind you for your medical check-up .”

sicheng smiles. “ you guys are close now, huh? I remembered you guys used to fight in college .”

“ not really. we talk about you mostly ,” taeyong pinches his thigh. “ don’t get the wrong idea .”

“ why not? doyoung hyung is hot and nice .”

taeyong deadpans sicheng. for someone who was seconds away to bawl his heart out earlier, now he’s plain annoying. sicheng grins cheekily like a little kid and taeyong sighs again, pinching his cheek.

“ he’s your ex, kid .” 

“ don’t care. you’d look good together .”

“ no. don’t even entertain that thought. back to you, kid, don’t forget your medical check-up .”

“ I won’t ,” and hesitantly he adds, “ I’ll ask jaehyun to come with me .”

taeyong raises a finger, narrowing his eyes at sicheng – but in all honesty he looks like a kitten rather than a threat. “ and talk to him .”

“ fine. whatever .”

sicheng knows taeyong isn’t very convinced. but at least he drops the topic, and turns the tv on to some ghibli movie.

7.

sicheng sits on his bed anxiously, fingers idly playing with his phone.

this is the fifth day since his little talk with taeyong. five days – and today, he decides, is the day he’d finally talk with jaehyun about everything. he’s promised himself there’s no backing away anymore… except jaehyun hasn’t answered any of his calls.

actually, he didn’t reply to sicheng’s texts or calls since the last time they’re together. sicheng had to ask yukhei to come with him to the hospital _(he also apologized million times, and yukhei assured him sex goes both ways. they agreed not to talk about it anymore)_.

sicheng’s used to ignore and push jaehyun away when his feelings get overwhelming — but now that’s he’s at the receiving end it hurts like hell.

karma is a bitch.

he’s snapped back to reality when his ringtone blasts out of nowhere. sicheng fumbles with his phone and his eyes widen when he realizes that in fact, it’s jaehyun who’s calling.  
he almost broke his own phone by literally smashing the accept button.

“ jaehyun !” he starts. sicheng cusses himself for sounding a bit too _I’ve-been-waiting-for-your-call-since-forever_ and calms his tone down. “ hey. what’s up ?”

jaehyun chuckles, bringing a smile to sicheng’s lips. _“ I should ask you that. why did you call me? I was driving, so I couldn’t pick up .”_

thanks god he sounds normal. if what sicheng gets now is the cold jaehyun, after days being neglected, he thinks he would’ve cried.

“ oh. right. it’s nothing, really …”

sicheng thinks for a bit. there’s no way he’d talk about his feelings and all over the phone. it needs to be a face-to-face conversation.

“ …I only wanted to tell you about my check-up .”

_“ ah, right, your check-up. damn, when was it ?”_ jaehyun groans, probably facepalming himself. _“ I forgot about that. did you went alone ?”_

“ no, yukhei went with me .”

silence. sicheng waits for jaehyun’s answer, but nothing comes. he bites his bottom lip – then suddenly he remembers about the incident at the hospital. jaehyun totally saw his hickeys. sicheng cusses himself again; why did he even mention yukhei’s name?

breaking the silence, sicheng clears his throat. “ so. everything went well. my liver’s fine, though I really need to lay off alcohol. I’ve been drinking caffeine instead. doctor doesn’t recommend it, and I hate the taste, but it’s not alcohol. a progress .” 

_“ that’s great. I’m proud of you .”_ jaehyun says. it sounds very genuine.

“ between you and me, though… I might had drank a glass last night .” he confesses, biting his bottom lip.

he expects jaehyun to scold him, but the korean’s voice is soft as ever. _“ it’s okay, winwin. baby steps. just don’t take too much ,”_ jaehyun pauses. _“ healing isn’t linear. you choosing to stop is already a step forward .”_

sicheng pictures jaehyun smiling, that tender smile of him which makes sicheng gooey inside every single time. even just imagining it gets him weak in the knees.

“ thanks .”

_“ just so you know, I’m here if you want to talk, okay ,”_ jaehyun says gently. _“ I care about you, winwin, more than you think I do. I want to help .”_

even such simple words make sicheng’s heart swells. god, he misses jaehyun. he misses seeing his beautiful face up-close and listening to his melodious voice. the five days were a pure torture for him – he never missed someone this much, not even doyoung when they dated. 

sicheng nods, even if jaehyun couldn’t see.

“ can I ask you something ?”

_“ ‘course. what did I just told you ?”_

smiling, sicheng rolls his eyes. “ whatever, dumbass ,” he hears jaehyun chuckle. “ we… we have to talk .”

_“ we’re talking, are we not ?”_

sicheng snorts. he doesn’t know if he wants to punch jaehyun for that stupid joke or kiss him. maybe both.

“ I mean, face-to-face, smart-pants .”

_“ sure. your place ?”_

“ if it’s okay with you .”

_“ why wouldn’t it be? I’ll be there in a few .”_

“ I’ll be waiting .” sicheng replies with a smile. 

sicheng hangs up first, after jaehyun insists him to. suddenly feeling self-conscious, sicheng gets up and kicks his boxers off before changing to shorts, and shrugs a clean tee on. it’s not the fanciest clothes but at least he doesn’t look like a hobo.

running a hand through his hair, he rehearses what he’s going to say in his mind. maybe he should be straight-forward. being overly cheesy doesn’t fit his low-key role in their relationship, since jaehyun’s the romantic one. but he can’t be too nonchalant.

_this is hard_ , sicheng whines as he tugs on his hair. he talks better using his body, anyways – but having sex as a confession seems off. they had sex plenty of times already.

his thoughts are cut short when someone knocks on his front door.

to his not-so-surprise, it’s jaehyun. he’s wearing a shirt and dress pants, and only then sicheng realizes he just got home from work. sicheng apologizes briefly yet jaehyun tells him it’s no big problem.

sicheng lets him in and closes the door. “ you have keys. why’d you knock ?”

“ it feels appropriate .” jaehyun shrugs.

it takes having a guest over to realize how messy your house is. sicheng cusses himself mentally as he picks up the dirty jacket on his couch and empty chinese take-out boxes on his coffee table. jaehyun simply smiles to him.

clutching the jacket to his chest, sicheng gestures to the couch.

“ have a seat. I’ll make some drinks .”

“ you make me nervous with all the formality ,” jaehyun chuckles as he sits down. “ is it something serious ?”

_not really, just my intense feelings for you. oh, and, the irresistible urge to marry you and like, adopt three cats together?_

sicheng shakes his head. “ no. don’t worry .”

he doesn’t wait for jaehyun to reply and escapes to the kitchen. tossing the jacket to the laundry basket, he grabs two mugs and pours hot water in them along with a 3-in-1 milo. he knows jaehyun prefers coffee but, well, caffeine is pretty much banned in this household.

_(after johnny literally shoved bitter black coffee down his throat last week, knowing damn well sicheng doesn’t like any kind of taste but sweet.)_

sicheng tastes the drink and yelps when it burns his tongue. good enough, he guesses, from the vague taste he gets in the split second. shrugging, he takes the mugs to the living room. jaehyun looks up to him, smiling. sicheng smiles back – though he looks plenty more constipated – and sets the drinks on the table. when he sits next to jaehyun, tension wraps the room along with rather awkward silence. 

his palms are all sweaty. he wipes them on his shorts, cringing when they leave visible spots.

“ so .” jaehyun starts. he tilts his head, like a gesture for sicheng to go ahead.

something in sicheng shouts at him to run like the coward he is but he stays. he stays, and his eyes never leave jaehyun’s, not even when he speaks. 

“ I might be crazy ,” he pauses. “ but I’m positive I’m in love with you .”

jaehyun’s face changes, though not in a necessarily bad way (not good, either). his lips fall agape and he stares at sicheng, a moment too long, as if he’s waiting for sicheng to laugh it off. sicheng doesn’t.

he barks out a surprised laugh. sicheng’s face crumples, and he looks away in disappointment – but he doesn’t expect jaehyun to guide his face back to him.

maybe jaehyun’s not speaking, but his eyes tell sicheng his admiration isn’t a total lost cause.

after a pregnant pause does jaehyun finally speak. “ you… love me .” he parrots, the word _love_ slipping from his mouth experimentally, as if it’s a whole new word for him. “ as in… what kind ?”

“ it’s stupid .” sicheng sighs.

“ it’s your feelings. it’s not stupid, it’s very much real and valid .” jaehyun states firmly.

sicheng takes a deep breathe.

“ I… love you… in the _marry-me-and-let’s-have-cats_ kind of love .”

jaehyun’s eyes widen in the slightest. “ so you’re serious about me .”

“ ‘course I am ,” sicheng’s face burns. “ if I’m not, we won’t be here .”

another silence. jaehyun looks like he’s contemplating, drawing random shapes on his own thighs. sicheng balls his fists and braces himself for the inevitable rejection, closing his eyes shut.

“ I can try .” jaehyun blurts out. it’s barely above a whisper yet enough for sicheng’s eyes to fly open.

“ you can… try ?” he repeats.

“ I can try to like, love you back .” jaehyun looks up and meets sicheng's eyes. he’s serious. he has that gentle smile on, and sicheng gets the urge to kiss him.

“ you don’t have to force yourself .”

“ no, I _want_ to ,” jaehyun retorts. “ I’m not forcing myself. just give me some time .”

sicheng shakes his head stubbornly. “ I’m serious. you don’t have to .”

“ will you let me explain ?” jaehyun says, though there’s no bite. sicheng nods once.

“ truth be told – I like you, winwin. I really do. but I’m not sure if it’s love yet ,” jaehyun explains with an apologetic smile. he grabs sicheng’s hand and clasps it between his, his eyes big like bambi’s. “ but I could try. I want to .”

like a kitten during lunch-time, sicheng perks up. perhaps he’s not a lost cause at all. perhaps there is a future for them.

“ so… it’s a maybe ?”

jaehyun nods. he smiles and ruffles sicheng’s hair. “ I’m sorry I can’t give you a solid answer yet .”

with a cheeky smile, sicheng shakes his head.

“ it’s okay. baby steps .” sicheng replies, mimicking jaehyun’s voice. jaehyun chuckles. 

with the burden on his shoulders gone, sicheng relaxes his posture and sits against the couch, next to jaehyun. their shoulders touch and sicheng leans towards the older’s warmth. jaehyun lets him. 

“ can we… continue to be like this ?” hesitant, sicheng puts a hand on top jaehyun’s. jaehyun doesn’t need to ask the implications behind his words.

“ of course. if that’s okay with you .”

“ whatever’s okay with you, is okay with me .”

jaehyun pouts playfully. “ that’s supposed to be my line .”

sicheng giggles. jaehyun hums, resting his head on sicheng’s shoulder, and smiles to himself when sicheng tenses suddenly under his weight before he relaxes the next second. he twists his hand upwards to interlace it with sicheng – and sicheng welcomes it gladly.

baby steps. feelings like this shouldn’t be rushed, they’ll come to you when the time is right. 

8.

regardless of how many times sicheng’s been to jaehyun’s workplace, he never stepped in. it’s always waiting for jaehyun at the car park and nothing else.

today, jaehyun drags him to work when sicheng tells him he’s having a day-off.

“ when I say I’m off from my work, doesn’t mean you can tell me to do your work .” sicheng whines, feeling his cheeks burn under jaehyun’s employees’ stare – the awfully embarrassing display of their own boss dragging another grown-ass man around like they’re five-year-olds.

jaehyun huffs, shaking his head. “ I’m not asking you to work, dumbass. you should be grateful. you’re like, a guest for today .” sicheng deadpans him. jaehyun hastily adds, “ VIP guest .”

jaehyun tells the receptionist – yi zhuo, sicheng reads her nametag – to make a pass for sicheng. her face screams _I don’t get paid enough for this_ as she prints something and slips it into a card holder. thanking her, jaehyun grabs sicheng’s wrist and drags him again.

the NEOCORP building is beautiful to say at the least. it’s modern with futuristic touches, and it’s the kind of buildings that kinda intimidates you. sorta resembles jaehyun’s father, the owner himself, because the man is in fact intimidating.

when they get to the second floor, jaehyun leads him to a spacious open-space, like a meeting room of some sort. only then does jaehyun lets go of sicheng’s hand.

“ I wanted to show you something .” jaehyun says eagerly, typing on a tablet. the screen is projected onto the walls, and sicheng whistles lowly. _technology._

“ what’s it ?”

he doesn’t bother to check the tablet over jaehyun’s shoulder, rather looking at it on the walls, since the screens are technically much bigger anyways. jaehyun types something into the query bar and clicks enter, fingers tapping on the table as the image loads. sicheng’s eyes widen when the picture clears out.

“ it’s the chick statue .” sicheng comments. jaehyun turns to him, smiling.

“ what’d you think ?” he asks, zooming into the picture so sicheng can get a better view. “ I got my team to design this. it took them like, two whole weeks. and now we’re only waiting for the final outcome .”

“ wait ,” sicheng butts in. “ your company… custom made? like, you made this thing? why can’t you just order it ?”

jaehyun smiles. “ in case you didn’t know, a chick water-statue is kinda rare to find, at least around here. so we’re making it ourselves .”

“ sick .”

“ see here .” jaehyun zooms in. 1028 is engraved on the chick’s butt. “ it’s your birthdate .”

“ _sick_ .” sicheng repeats. 

he joins jaehyun at the table then and pries the tablet away from the older. jaehyun, chuckling, lets him.

he plays with the settings; making the statue bigger and smaller, painting it with every colour on the rainbow spectrum, even adding a few poorly-drawn flowers. jaehyun takes the tablet back with a grimace he’s trying to hide.

“ let’s not ruin the design, winwin .”

_“ zhong chenle, get back here !”_

sicheng’s elf-ear stands up at the familiar language. mandarin. he sees a boy chasing after his friend, both looking around their early 20s. when they spot jaehyun they come to an abrupt halt at once.

“ mister jung ,” they greet politely, bowing a perfect ninety-degrees. “ we didn’t see you there .”

jaehyun isn’t very bothered by the way he’s smiling. “ didn’t I tell you two to stop running in the halls ?”

“ we’re sorry. chenle was… being annoying .” the owner of the voice earlier says, and the other boy – presumably chenle – sticks his tongue out at him.

sicheng smiles. the boys remind him of him and kun when they were little.

" this is our newest interns, renjun and chenle. renjun is responsible for designs while chenle's in the technical department .” jaehyun explains. “ this is sicheng, guys .”

renjun smiles politely to him while chenle eyes their interlaced hands, slightly smirking. " you look cute together ." he blurts out. " are you dating ?"

sicheng automatically turns to jaehyun, cheeks rosy. jaehyun chuckles. 

" why would you ask that? don't be rude !" renjun whisper-yells, nudging chenle and giving him a side stink eye. chenle shrugs.

" no, we're not dating ." sicheng replies. the youngest male frowns.

" why not ?"

“ for personal reasons they won’t disclose! c’mon le, don’t be rude .” renjun says. he turns back to sicheng, bowing. “ I’m sorry. he’s a brat .”

sicheng shakes his head. “ it’s okay .”

" actually, renjun's the one who designed your chick water-fountain ." jaehyun states, poking sicheng’s side.

" really ?" sicheng lights up.

renjun smiles, fiddling with his fingers. " did you like it ?"

" I love it! it's very pretty, thank you. I’m sure the final outcome would be even better ."

renjun smiles in victory and excuses themselves. sicheng thinks he's really cute, adorable even. when the younger two are out of earshot, sicheng voices his thoughts out to jaehyun, who snorts in reply.

" don't be fooled. he might be cute but he's actually capable of throwing someone twice his size out the window. trust me ."

sicheng hears the sound of heels clicking and immediately snaps his head to the hallways. two women come in – the older-looking one in a gorgeous silver dress, earrings dangling – and the other in a blouse and pencil skirt. by instinct, sicheng moves to create space between him and jaehyun.

they look confused to see sicheng here, but sicheng can’t blame them.

“ jaehyun, you didn’t tell me you have a guest .” the older woman speaks. her tone is friendly yet carries authority-vibes.

“ mom ,” jaehyun side-glances sicheng. the chinese is wide-eyed, because he hasn’t meet jaehyun’s family until now and boy, is he nervous. “ this is sicheng. my boyfriend .”

sicheng looks up to him, still wide-eyed – because _since when_? – and jaehyun grabs him closer by the waist. if only he could feel sicheng’s heartbeat at the moment, it’d be embarrassing. thanks god he can’t.

his mother breaks into a wide grin. “ of course, sicheng! jaehyun told me a lot about you .” sicheng blinks. he did? “ I’m joohyun, jaehyun’s mother. it’s lovely to finally meet you .”

sicheng extends his hand for a handshake, but joohyun instead pulls him into a hug. not knowing what to do sicheng stands still and smiles awkwardly when they break. he really needs to look up etiquettes for dealing with your rich not-so-boyfriend’s parents.

“ you’re very pretty, darling ,” joohyun smiles. “ I already like you so much .”

cheeks rosy, sicheng bows politely. “ thank you .” 

the girl in the pencil skirt eyes sicheng down warily. sicheng shoots her a glance, and she raises a brow at him. is she like, jaehyun’s sister or something? but… jaehyun doesn’t have a sister.

jaehyun clears his throat. “ winwin, this is seyeon .”

everything clicks then. he smiles, but it’s not returned. seyeon barely glances at him and focuses on jaehyun.

“ you have a meeting in thirty minutes .” she says, voice icy. “ your father will be there .”

“ a meeting? but minjeong hasn’t told me anything .” jaehyun says. minjeong is his assistant.

“ it’s a last-minute meeting, everyone just got the notice. apparently a shareholder isn’t very sure about the mall’s air filtration concept .”

“ that’s bullshit .” jaehyun blurts out. sicheng feels bad for him; he knows how important this project is for jaehyun.

joohyun pats her son’s back in understanding. “ there’s nothing we can do, jaehyun, except to try and convince him again .” she looks at sicheng over jaehyun’s shoulder and smiles. “ have you eaten, sweetheart ?”

sicheng, realizing he’s the one being spoken to, shakes his head.

“ perhaps you can wait for jaehyun at the pantry room then. at least eat something until the meeting’s over .”

jaehyun nods. he turns to sicheng and takes his hand gently, interlacing their fingers.

“ you guys can go first ,” he says to joohyun and seyeon. “ I’ll take winwin to the pantry room .”

joohyun gives sicheng the last hug, saying she’s sorry they can’t talk for now, and surely will make up for it. seyeon doesn’t look back once she leaves.

“ I don’t think seyeon likes me .” sicheng says slowly when they’re out of earshot.

jaehyun smiles, shaking his head. “ nonsense. what’s there to not like about you? mom surely loves you. she’s already looking for another chat with you .”

“ maybe later, but _you_ –” sicheng stares at jaehyun pointedly. “ – and I have to talk. about the boyfriend part .”

“ after meeting .” jaehyun promises with a sly grin.

jaehyun brags about how their pantry room actually feels more like a café, because it’s big and such, but the best part is it’s free. sicheng agrees. free food is the best.  
the pantry room is situated on the fifth floor. when jaehyun pulls the door open, three familiar faces greet sicheng.

“ sicheng hyung !” jungwoo beams. sicheng smiles back. 

from where he’s standing against the water dispenser, doyoung nods at him as a sign of acknowledging his presence. johnny eyes sicheng from head to toe then turns to jaehyun.

“ I didn’t know today was _bring-your-boyfriend-to-work_ day. if you gave us a prior notice I would’ve dragged yuta .” 

“ they’re not dating .” doyoung points out.

jungwoo snaps his head towards doyoung, eyes widen. “ they’re not ?”

smirking, doyoung adds, “ yet .”

“ ha-ha, guys ,” jaehyun rolls his eyes. “ I’m your boss here, don’t disrespect me. I’m here to give y’all a special task .”

“ what’s it? please don’t tell me to design another building or I’d die .” johnny says dramatically, clenching his chest. “ I’ve already had two projects on my hand .”

doyoung snorts. “ two? I’ve got four .”

“ I got five ,” jungwoo grins. “ I win .”

“ guys .” jaehyun sighs. the three men turn back to him. “ nobody’s designing anything, for now. I want you guys to entertain sicheng here because I have a meeting to attend .”

“ not only you brought your boyfriend to work, then told other men to entertain him .” johnny states. jaehyun deadpans him.

“ don’t listen to him, sicheng hyung ,” jungwoo says as he drags sicheng away from jaehyun. “ we’re glad to see you !”

“ yeah, ‘course, sicheng. I didn’t say I don’t want you here or whatever ,” johnny clarifies, hands raised defensively. “ your boyfriend is just an irresponsible brick .”

jaehyun ignores him and flashes sicheng the last smile. “ I’ll see you in two hours, win ,” he proceeds to scowl at the other three, squinting his eyes as a warning. “ I’ll leave him to you .”

the door shuts. jungwoo sits sicheng down, and settles across him.

“ you want something to drink? tequila, perhaps ?”

sicheng freezes at the mention of alcohol. doyoung, almost protectively, smacks the back of johnny’s head.

“ are you crazy? where did you even get the tequila ?” he scolds. sicheng smiles sympathetically at johnny.

johnny winces, rubbing the pained spot. “ I was kidding. sorry, sicheng, I forgot .”

“ it’s okay. a drink is fine, but nothing alcoholic, please .”

“ coffee ?” johnny offers. seeing the grimace on sicheng’s face, he chuckles. “ right. then tea ?”

jungwoo deadpans the oldest. “ you act as if you’ve only known sicheng hyung for a day ,” he says, then turns to sicheng with a smile. “ hot cocoa with marshmallows ?”

sicheng’s face lights up and he nods. jungwoo laughs as he pinches sicheng’s cheeks and gets up to make his drink; while johnny grumbles something over how he’s the only one who appreciates real coffee here. which is bull but no one has the heart to tell him.

doyoung, being an avid tea drinker, shakes his head at him. “ what’s so good with bean water .”

“ what’s so good with leaf water ?” johnny shoots back. 

jungwoo hands sicheng his drink and sicheng thanks him. he smiles, telling sicheng he’s glad to see him again, before he goes to break johnny and doyoung’s fight before they can kill one another. sicheng watches in amusement as he sips his drink.

after a few moments jungwoo sits back, facing sicheng with a knowing look.

“ so. what’s up with you and our boss ?”

sicheng contemplates. his friends don’t get the whole picture — they don’t know about jaehyun and sicheng’s ambiguous relationship. and clearly, sicheng’s not going to tell them now. maybe wait until he gets to talk with jaehyun.

sicheng rubs his nape, chuckling. “ I guess I’m... courting ?”

“ courting ?” jungwoo parrots, looking sceptical. “ I would’ve thought he’s the one doing the courting .”

“ at least jaehyun’s not hard to impress. the ball’s in your court ,” johnny says smugly and nudges doyoung. doyoung hisses at him. “ you’re not in doyoung’s case, rest assured .”

“ doyoung ?” sicheng blinks.

“ he’s trying to court taeyong .” jungwoo supplies. his resigned face adds _out of all people_.

“ I’m not !” doyoung growls. 

“ your call log is full with his name .” johnny adds.

“ I was only asking about sicheng to make sure he takes his meds .” doyoung retorts, though his cheeks are growing redder by now.

sicheng contemplates, then clicks his tongue in realization.

“ the last time I went to taeyong hyung’s house, there’s a whole vase of fresh roses that wasn’t there before. when I asked he got all blushing and avoided the question .” 

they all turn to doyoung in sync, jungwoo whistling while johnny smirks. doyoung grumbles about how sicheng is a little snitch and sicheng giggles. it’s been a while since they hung-out and he surely missed them. he gotta thank jaehyun for this. 

he’s too caught up in their endless flow of conversation that sicheng hasn’t realized it has been two hours. not until jaehyun knocks the door down, asking for his guest to be handed over to him.

johnny fake-cries, clinging to sicheng’s side, like he’ll never see him again.

“ you know you can just text me hyung .” sicheng pats johnny’s head with a fed-up smile.

“ you never reply! it takes five business days for you just to say hi back. and you always say no when we ask you to hang-out .”

“ we gotta use jaehyun as a bait .” jungwoo hums. “ if jaehyun’s there, he’ll come too .”

doyoung grimaces. “ that means we gotta invite jaehyun too, no? but I don’t like him .”

“ who said that? we can just lie .”

jaehyun smacks both johnny and jungwoo on the shoulder – not doyoung because he knows karate – and drags sicheng away. sicheng waves them goodbye with a half-hearted promise to reply their texts on time.

“ that was definitely fun. I forgot how refreshing hang-outs could be .” sicheng says giddily once they get to the car park. 

jaehyun smiles and ruffles his hair. “ good to hear, pretty .”

“ you okay ?” sicheng asks, eyeing jaehyun with concern. his tone is off. even his smile looks tired.

“ I’m fine, just tired ,” jaehyun sighs. “ shareholders are assholes, winwin. lots of them. remember that .”

sicheng nods with all seriousness even if he’s never gonna deal with one. jaehyun chuckles – and to sicheng’s surprise, dips his head down and pecks sicheng’s lips swiftly. it’s light, feather-like kiss, barely there and leaves sicheng yearning for more.

sicheng touches his lips. “ jaehyun… what –“

“ recharging .” jaehyun grins.

“ you’re… childish ,” sicheng complains, though he’s smiling – then he looks up to jaehyun with a serious look. “ reminding me of, we should talk .”

jaehyun rubs his nape, looking hesitant.

“ I know I said after meeting but… I’m completely bummed now. could we possibly postpone it ?”

pausing, sicheng nods. as cheesy as it sounds, he could wait forever when it comes to jaehyun. 

“ it’s okay. you have to rest first .”

“ thank you, pretty .”

“ I should say that to you. I had a really good day .” sicheng beams as he skips to jaehyun’s car. 

shaking his head, jaehyun chuckles. he ends up sleeping over at sicheng’s that night, cuddling until they both fall asleep. sicheng grins like a madman when he wakes up to jaehyun’s beautiful face and jaehyun shushes him to go back to sleep.

he knows he’s fallen in too deep, yet he doesn’t find it in him to mind.

9.

sicheng cracks his knuckles as he waits for the file to submit. once it’s done, he sighs and turns his computer off.

it’s 5 p.m. right on time after he sent the last e-mail to his boss. he gets up and cleans his desk, getting his stuff when his phone chimes.

**_jaehyun_ ** _: your fridge is an insult._

chuckling, sicheng types back a reply.

**_winwin_ ** _: let me guess, you’re invading my fridge._  
**_jaehyun_ ** _: yes._  
**_jaehyun_ ** _: I’m cooking dinner. be back soon or I’ll eat by myself!!_  
**_jaehyun_ ** _: also, I miss you._

sicheng barks out a laugh, louder this time. he covers his red face when a nearby co-worker snaps her head to him in irritation, and bows as an apology.  
winwin: don’t eat before I get home, or I’ll kick you out. 

the traffic back home is fortunately smooth and sicheng gets back earlier than expected. after kicking his shoes off and opening the door, a mix of aroma hits his nostrils immediately. his stomach growls in anticipation and he skips to the kitchen instantly.

as expected, jaehyun is cooking something with a concentrated look. sicheng smiles and sneaks his arms around jaehyun’s waist, pulling him into a back-hug – and gets flashbacks of the day he’s fallen in love with jaehyun.

a wider smile leaves sicheng’s lips. he never regrets that day.

“ you stink .” jaehyun comments. which is a blatant lie, because sicheng smells like the cologne he likes.

sicheng hums, tightening his grip. “ what’s the menu for tonight ?”

“ kimchi fried rice. I wanted to do more but like I said, your fridge is an insult .”

“ what’d you expect, it’s the middle of a month. everyone is broke .”

“ let’s go grocery shopping together sometime .”

_together_ , sicheng likes the sound of it. he kisses jaehyun’s neck once and lets jaehyun do his work as he goes to take a shower. after changing to his chick onesie, he helps jaehyun to set the table.

dinner is pleasant to say at the least. jaehyun’s cooking never fails him, and sicheng even asks for seconds, much to jaehyun’s delight. he doesn’t complain when jaehyun tells him to do the dishes, while jaehyun dries them off.

“ want to watch a movie ?” jaehyun suggests. he’s lounging on sicheng’s couch, mindlessly looking for something to watch. sicheng doesn’t have netflix so he’s left to browse manually.

sicheng gives him a sultry smile as he walks backwards to his room, arms tucked behind. “ I was thinking of something else, actually …”

jaehyun is no fool. he gets up at once and drags sicheng’s wrist, ears reddening when sicheng giggles behind him.

sicheng pushes jaehyun to his bed and crouches down to his knees in front of him. his eyes are bright, tongue sticking out a bit, strands of hair covering his forehead. he looks innocent – though there’s nothing innocent about this situation.

sicheng unzips jaehyun’s jeans and pulls it down along with his boxers, pooling around jaehyun’s ankles. he wraps a hand around jaehyun’s half-hard dick and strokes it slowly, enjoying the faint moans slip out from jaehyun’s mouth. jaehyun rakes his fingers through sicheng’s hair and plays with them idly as sicheng fastens his stroking pace.

meeting jaehyun’s lust-clouded gaze, he licks a stripe from the base all over to the head playfully. surely enough jaehyun groans, telling him to stop teasing, and sicheng giggles. sicheng licks around the head, his hand still pumping jaehyun’s shaft. he presses his pillowy lips against the tip, hesitant, and slowly engulfs it in his mouth.

seeing the tears brim in sicheng’s eyes, jaehyun wipes them away.

“ it’s okay win, don’t do it if you can’t .” he reassures. even now he’s still concerned about sicheng, and sicheng thinks it’s weirder if he’s not in love with jaehyun by now.

sicheng doesn’t listen. he sinks down even deeper and takes jaehyun’s length fully until its head hits the back of his throat. it hurts a bit, but the way jaehyun caresses his hair gently and his words of encouragements are painstaking, so sicheng keeps going. 

his head bobs up and down in a steady pace, tongue skilfully licking jaehyun’s underside. 

“ fu – _fuck_ , win ,” jaehyun grunts, adam’s apple bobs as he gasps for air. sicheng, the tease he is, has his hands firm on jaehyun’s thighs so he can’t rock his hips and thrust his cock in any further. “ you’re so good at this, pretty .”

sicheng hums, sending vibrations through jaehyun’s dick. jaehyun guides him carefully, making sure not to hurt him even if not on purpose. 

sicheng is absolutely beautiful like this. cheeks flushed peach-pink, plump lips swollen and shiny with spit, long black lashes fluttering, hair messy. his brown doe eyes are staring right into jaehyun’s soul and jaehyun bites his bottom lip, whispering a string of cusses.

he looks especially pretty with a mouthful of cock – _jaehyun’s_ cock.

“ win – winnie, I’m gonna cum –“

with that, jaehyun comes into sicheng’s mouth. the chinese male doesn’t pull back. he releases jaehyun’s dick when the older finishes, heavy breathing with face red. sicheng swallows jaehyun’s semen that was in his mouth; smiling up to jaehyun like an angel, as if jaehyun’s dick isn’t in his mouth a minute ago. 

jaehyun pulls sicheng up to his laps, catching his lips into a kiss. he could taste his own cum but jaehyun doesn’t mind, not when sicheng is grinding his hips against jaehyun’s own, a hand on jaehyun’s nape to pull him closer. jaehyun lifts his shirt a bit and draws circles on sicheng’s hipbone mindlessly.

when they part, jaehyun looks up to sicheng like he’s the eighth wonder of the world.

“ winwinie .” 

sicheng cradles jaehyun’s face in his hands, smiling. “ yes ?”

“ let’s make this official .”

a pause. sicheng stares at jaehyun like he couldn’t comprehend what he said, lips agape. jaehyun rolls his eyes fondly and changes their position, pining sicheng to the mattress, a hand above sicheng’s shoulder to prop himself up. 

“ be my boyfriend .” jaehyun says. it sounds more like a command.

“ are you kidding ?” 

“ that’d be too cruel ,” chuckling a little, jaehyun shakes his head. his hand idly caresses a side of sicheng’s cheek as he stares down at the chinese. “ I would never do that to you .”

“ so like… you like me back ?” sicheng questions dumbly. his eyes are wide in disbelief.

jaehyun grins, heart eyes mirroring sicheng’s own. he pushes strands of stray hair away from sicheng’s face, admiring the chinese’s beauty in silence, and leans down to kiss sicheng’s temple. it’s long and heartfelt. it’s like he’s pouring his soul into the kiss, something words couldn’t describe. sicheng smiles to himself.

“ like? I love you, baby. I asked you for time and you gave me plenty – and I’m sure now, I’m in love with you as much as you are in love with me .” jaehyun explains.

“ … for real ?”

“ why are you doubting me ?” jaehyun says in mock offense. “ do you want me to list the reasons why? because it’ll be impossible and you’ll cringe half-way through .”

sicheng giggles. jaehyun knows him well.

when there’s no more words to be said, their eyes speak for them.

jaehyun leans in, hesitant – as if asking for permission. sicheng grabs him down and connects their lips. he wraps his arms around jaehyun, while jaehyun has his hand under sicheng’s head, lips softly pressing against each other’s.

even if they kissed a zillion times, this one feels different. it’s real. there’s no fireworks-exploding-in-the-background but it feels safe, secure, full of love – and a silent promise between themselves. a start of a new relationship.

breaking into a wide grin that it almost hurts, sicheng caresses jaehyun’s face. it’s something too good to be true, but sicheng knows it’s real, that jaehyun is as smitten for him as he is.

“ boyfriends ?” he asks for confirmation.

the older nods, bringing sicheng’s hand to his lips and kissing it. “ boyfriends .”

“ this might sound cheesy but… I love you .” 

“ I love you more .” jaehyun smiles.

“ I love you _first_.”

“ are you turning this into a competition, pretty ?” jaehyun laughs. “ ‘cause we both know I will win .”

“ fuck you .” 

“ do it yourself .” jaehyun challenges with a smirk. sicheng deadpans him, and knees jaehyun’s dick, smiling smugly when jaehyun yelps.

there’s many ways to say I love you — and, well, sex is one of them.

_(later, when they tell their friends, jungwoo and taeyong congratulate them while doyoung grumpily gives a smirking johnny fifty dollars.)_


	2. lost in your smile, hugs are never enough.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ what do you mean —” after a split second, sicheng’s face breaks into a wide smile. how could he forget? “ oh !”
> 
> ten and kun exchange puzzled glances.
> 
> “ what is it ?”
> 
> sicheng doesn’t answer. he raises his hand instead, showing the beautiful ring adorning his fourth finger. ten chokes on air while kun’s eyes widen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little valentine's special <3

it’s been three years. they’ve been together for three whole years, and sicheng was never happier than he is now. he completely dropped alcohol (and switched to hot cocoa, since he can’t stand caffeine), he moved in with jaehyun, and not to mention, he’s in a better place. mentally and physically.

literally, too, because he’s in jaehyun’s laps now. 

jaehyun plays idly with the hair on sicheng’s nape, eyes fixed on the laptop screen situated on the coffee table in front of them. sicheng admires his side-profile not-so-subtly, studying the face he has never stop falling in love with. the korean’s bare-faced, wearing his nerd glasses and boxers with just a plain grey tee. 

no doubt, jaehyun looks beautiful as ever but nervousness is evident on his face, by the way his jaw tenses and his eyes staring through the laptop rather than at it.

“ baobei ,” sicheng says softly and shakes jaehyun back to reality. jaehyun turns to him, smiling. “ you look constipated .”

jaehyun lets out a dry chuckle. his hand travels to sicheng’s and he squeezes it. “ that’s a subtle way to say I look like shit .”

“ I didn’t say you look like shit. you don’t, you’re beautiful, you just look... nervous .”

“ I am nervous, pretty. if I fuck this up I’ll never forgive myself .”

“ don’t worry too much. they love you as I do .” sicheng leans forward and pecks jaehyun’s cheek. jaehyun smiles wider, leaning into his touch — and at the same time the laptop screen buffers before two figures emerge.

it’s his cousin, kun, and sicheng’s best-friend-forever, ten. today is the day sicheng’s going to introduce jaehyun officially to them as his lover, not friend.

when the video clears, kun is smiling while ten pretends to barf at the sight in front of him.

“ ugh. lovebirds. make me sick in the stomach .” he says in mandarin, much to jaehyun’s confusion.

“ don’t be petty ,” kun shoots back in mandarin before easily switching to korean. “ sicheng, it’s been a long time .”

sicheng’s face lights up at the sight of his second and third favourite human beings (jaehyun is his first, of course), and he straightens his posture. “ kun-ge, ten-ge, I missed you two .”

“ come back to china then .” ten blurts out.

that earns him another stink eye from kun before he smiles again.

“ we missed you too buddy. so, is this the ever almighty jaehyun ?” kun asks, lifting a teasing brow. 

“ ah ,” jaehyun smiles shyly. “ I’m jaehyun, though I’m not sure about the ever almighty part .”

“ oh, but that’s how yunyun described you ,” ten chimes in, examining his fingers. “ rich, handsome, caring, honey-like voice, tall, big di —“

sicheng feels like exploding on the spot. “ ten-ge !”

kun and jaehyun laugh, admiring how sicheng’s face burns like a tomato. ten sticks his tongue out at the youngest and sicheng pouts, sinking into the crook of jaehyun’s neck for comfort.

“ so. care to tell us how you guys met ?” ten asks. his intimidating, unwavering gaze is fixed on jaehyun so the korean takes it as a clue for him to answer.

“ sicheng and I met in college. we have a lot of mutual friends, but weren’t exactly close until a few years ago .”

ten raises an interested brow. “ what’s the turning point then ?” 

jaehyun turns to sicheng, hesitating. sicheng presses his lips into a thin smile and squeezes his hand.

“ actually… after I broke up with doyoung, I met jaehyun again at a bar .” sicheng replies. his head is hanging low and he doesn’t dare to meet kun or ten’s eyes.

as expected, kun frowns. “ bar ?”

“ don’t tell me you’ve …” ten chimes in, similar expression on his face.

“ that’s what I didn’t tell you guys. after the break-up, I… I went back to my old habit ,” sicheng confesses with an ashamed grimace. “ I drank a lot frequently. until the point I was admitted to a hospital .”

“ and you didn’t tell us ?” ten raises his voice. sicheng shrinks and shakes his head timidly.

silence. kun looks fairly disappointed, but doesn’t say anything.

jaehyun wraps an arm around sicheng’s shoulder and clears his throat. “ but winwin has fully recovered now. he took his medication and went to seek professional’s help. I’m very proud of him. he tried very hard to beat his addiction, so I hope you’re not mad at him .”

sicheng looks up to jaehyun with teary eyes. his lips tremble when he whispers a silent thank you. jaehyun smiles, bright like the clear sky, while kun smiles approvingly. ten pretends to be disgusted, even if he’s also cooing mentally.

“ we’re not mad. we know our yunyun is a strong adult. but sicheng, please tell us if anything happens, okay? that’s what family is for .” kun says with a hint of sternness. sicheng nods.

“ and jaehyun ,” ten’s gaze flickers at sicheng for a brief moment before setting on the said man. for the first time since their face-time starts, ten offers a genuine smile at him. “ thank you… for taking care of him. and also making sure he quit. god knows what’d happen if you didn’t .”

“ of course. I can never imagine myself without him .”

from the corner of jaehyun’s eyes, he sees sicheng smiling shyly.

“ we’re very proud of you too, yunyun .” kun adds. 

ten sighs, exaggerated and loud. “ let’s not get sappy, kun, please. we’re not fifty .” 

“ excuse me, who got sappy first ?” kun retorts. the couple burst into laughter.

they fall to an easy conversation after that. ten spoiled that kun’s younger brother, xiaojun, got himself two boyfriends, namely guanheng and yangyang. sicheng makes a mental note to congratulate him and also scold him for not telling him.

sicheng brags about jaehyun’s mall — that is set to open to public tomorrow, 13th february — and jaehyun tries to dismiss him but kun insists they’ll come when they visit korea.

“ minghao, your childhood friend, is getting married .” kun says. “ next month. just in case you decide to visit then .” 

“ really? can’t believe that idiot really found his soulmate, at last .” sicheng comments with fondness. jaehyun knows he’s making a mental note to clear their schedule by then.

“ if you found yours, nothing is impossible .” ten snorts.

sicheng shoots back, “ you’re the one to speak !” 

jaehyun chuckles. he taps sicheng’s shoulder to earn his attention. “ love, there’s something else we forgot to mention .”

“ what do you mean —” after a split second, sicheng’s face breaks into a wide smile. how could he forget? “ oh !”

ten and kun exchange puzzled glances.

“ what is it ?”

sicheng doesn’t answer. he raises his hand instead, showing the beautiful ring adorning his fourth finger. ten chokes on air while kun’s eyes widen.

“ you’re engaged ?” kun almost-yells.

“ to whom? why? when ?” ten spits out dumbly.

“ to me, I hope ,” jaehyun replies. sicheng giggles. “ and just last week. we hadn’t tell anyone yet .”

ten gawks. “ so we’re the first ones to know ?”

“ yeah. you guys are winwin’s family .” jaehyun says, taking sicheng’s hand and kissing his knuckles. sicheng blushes.

it’s true though. sicheng’s parents died when he’s little, and kun’s family looked after him. they spoil sicheng so much – sometimes to the point xiaojun gets jealous – so it’s only fair to tell them first.

then jaehyun’s family, but that will take a while. sicheng’s still intimidated by them even if jaehyun’s parents love him as much as they love jaehyun now. especially joohyun.

“ then we expect to be the first ones invited to the wedding, too .” ten says, wiggling his brows. sicheng sputters a string of cusses in mandarin to him.

“ that’s… maybe not anytime soon .” jaehyun smiles nervously, holding his fiancé in place before sicheng can smack his poor laptop.

“ it’s your relationship, do it at your pace ,” kun states. “ anyways, I wish you both happiness and wealth .”

“ thank you, hyung .” 

“ we have to go now .” ten sighs. “ mom insisted for us to help minghao with his wedding preparations, so we’re busy. not that busy that we won’t reply to your texts though, yun !”

sicheng snorts. “ yeah, whatever. I always text you, okay ?” 

“ please take care of sicheng, jaehyun, or ten will personally fly to korea and beat your ass .” kun says calmly. jaehyun laughs — but then realizes kun is serious when nobody else joins. he fakes a cough and nods once. sicheng sighs, patting his back reassuringly.

“ of course, hyung. don’t worry .”

kun smiles with dimples visible. “ you both have our blessing .”

“ speak for yourself !” ten huffs. “ if you don’t come visit for minghao’s wedding, consider yourselves dead to me .”

jaehyun blinks dumbfoundedly. sicheng, used to ten’s dramatic antics, rolls his eyes.

“ we will visit as soon as we can .” jaehyun replies politely.

“ maybe consider getting married and we’ll come .” sicheng shoots back, enjoying how ten’s cheeks redden like he did earlier, while kun laughs nervously.

“ take care of yourselves, and congrats on getting engaged ,” kun says, ignoring sicheng’s remark. “ we have to go now .”

they end the face-time and sicheng huffs at the black screen – albeit jaehyun swears his face is literally glowing right now. he smiles to himself. sicheng must’ve missed his family no matter how much he denies it; it’s been a few years since he met them after all.

sicheng stretches his arms out and yawns, turning to jaehyun with a slight pout when his arms fall back to his side. “ I’m sleepy ,” he says, leaning against jaehyun’s broad chest, a hand trailing on jaehyun’s chin. “ I forgot how exhausting they could be .”

“ you love them .” jaehyun points out. he fixes sicheng’s messy hair, kissing the tip of his elf ear.

“ doesn’t make them less annoying. ten, that prick, he can never let me live .”

pausing, jaehyun pulls back and smirks. “ speaking of that. what did you tell them about me, exactly? the part – what was it? big di –“

he’s cut off when sicheng smacks his chest, hissing like an angry kitten in action. jaehyun laughs, hearty and deep, taking sicheng’s hand to stop him.

“ you’re annoying ,” sicheng groans. “ why am I surrounded by annoying people ?”

“ too bad then. you’re gonna be stuck with this certain annoying person for the rest of your life .” jaehyun hums, bringing sicheng’s hand to his face, smiling sweetly at his fiancé. 

sicheng’s face reddens. “ disgusting .”

“ will you ever appreciate my romantic side ?”

“ no .”

“ someday .” the korean sighs. sicheng shakes his head.

“ nope, never. now aren’t you supposed to go to bed? you have a grand event tomorrow .”

jaehyun doesn’t answer. he sneaks his arm under sicheng’s knees, another under his nape and gets up abruptly, carrying sicheng bridal-style in his arms. sicheng’s eyes widen and yelps in shock, while his fiancé chuckles at his reaction.

“ dumbass, a warning would’ve been nice .” sicheng deadpans. jaehyun pecks his lips and brings him upstairs – to their room.

their room is practical, to be honest. minimal decoration (only a shelf full with various of coke bottles from 1997 until now, because jaehyun likes to collect those), a king-sized bed, a closet and a tv on the wall, facing the bed so they can _netflix and chill_. it’s painted in scallop seashell complimented with pink curtains and bed sheets.

the colour pink has become an inside joke between them.

jaehyun lies sicheng gently on the bed and settles down next to him. since he’s already changed into his pyjamas and brushed his teeth, sicheng makes himself comfortable and wraps himself with the blanket. sighing, he closes his eyes shut.

they fly open when jaehyun pulls him into a side-hug.

sicheng turns to him, deadpan. “ get your hands off me .”

“ you know I can’t sleep without cuddling .” jaehyun pouts.

“ sounds like a you problem .”

“ we’ve been together for three years and you’re still so cruel .” jaehyun says as he gets up and reaches for a kirby plushie on the night stand.

not two minutes later, sicheng spins around to face jaehyun and takes the kirby from his arm, tossing it away. jaehyun makes a confused face but it dissolves into a shocked smile when sicheng hugs him, burying his head into jaehyun’s chest and closing his eyes.

“ you’re childish .” jaehyun says. 

“ rich coming from you, mister five-year-old .”

jaehyun hums, caressing sicheng’s hair. it’s getting thick, how jaehyun likes it, as opposed to sicheng who loves short hair to save shampoo and conditioner. jaehyun told him countless times his future husband could buy him an entire shampoo company if he asks, but he’s still stubborn.

he stops humming as he stares at sicheng in silence. his lashes fluttering over his lidded eyes, his squishy cheeks, his perfect brows, his lips – _god_ his lips. if jaehyun is any good at literature he’ll write poems about sicheng’s lips.

jaehyun’s snapped back to reality when his fiancé pinches his side.

“ keep going ,” sicheng says, borderline whining. “ I can’t sleep without your voice .”

“ sounds like a you problem .” jaehyun mimics sicheng’s voice, smirking.

sicheng pretends to get up. “ y’know what, you can sleep cuddling with that pink piece of shit –“

jaehyun bursts into laughter and drags sicheng down again, pulling him into his embrace. sicheng grunts yet lets him. jaehyun continues to hum, his sweet baritone voice sending sicheng to deep slumber.

it’s a silent _I love you_ as he watches his fiancé drives off to dreamland, a tender look on his face, and gets up to leave a peck on sicheng’s temple.

~~~

sicheng studies his clothing. a yellow-black-striped shirt and denim jeans, with sneakers. it looks simple but there’s no need to doll up for a casual date. plus, it’s not like he’s still in courting phase. he could wear plastic bag and jaehyun is smitten just the same.

sicheng’s gaze switches to the ring on his fourth finger. he still can’t believe he’s engaged — especially not to jung jaehyun, the man of his dreams. 

but maybe dreams do come true.

“ winwin ?” the familiar voice snaps him back to reality. sicheng looks up. his fiancé is staring at him, head tilt in concern. he’s wearing white turtleneck tucked into black khakis and he looks gorgeous. “ you okay ?”

sicheng smiles and nods. “ I’m fine .”

jaehyun smiles back and takes his hand. the car stops in front of a building and the driver informs them that they have in fact arrived. jaehyun thanks him, telling him he’ll call him when they’re done later. intertwining his hands with sicheng’s, jaehyun opens the door and leads his fiancé out.

the sun today is indeed bright. sicheng has to mask his eyes using his hand, and when he gets a proper view of the building he lets out a slow woah. jaehyun smiles smugly next to him.

the VISION shopping complex, NEOCORP’s biggest project yet. 

the opening ceremony went perfectly. many business partners and shareholders congratulated jaehyun and his team. sicheng didn’t go with him but he did watch it from the tv with taeyong, and god, was the mall packed. not to mention the media. if sicheng was there he’ll probably faint out of panic attack.

most importantly, jaehyun looks dashing on the screen in his formal suit and hair slicked back. 

sicheng nudged taeyong on the ribs and bragged about it, while taeyong simply pointed to doyoung next to jaehyun and bluntly said, _“ his right-hand man is hot. is he single ?”_

newsflash: he’s dating doyoung since last week. sicheng threw a handful of popcorn to him.

“ it’s pretty .” sicheng breathes out.

“ well, yeah, I designed this with you in mind, after all ,” jaehyun says smoothly, grinning when sicheng blushes. “ let’s go in ?”

sicheng lets jaehyun drag him inside. it’s still fairly crowded, though not as much as yesterday, and at least people are only here to shop.

since his fiancé isn’t a crowd person and isn’t keen on cameras pointing to him, jaehyun decides it’s better if they go a day after the grand opening. plus, it’s valentines and jaehyun’s birthday – so it’s the perfect day for a little date.

the mall looks more like a hotel to sicheng. it’s gorgeous, huge – and pink. yes, it’s painted in soft pink, like jaehyun promised. there’s also exactly seven levels. which means there’s also… 

sicheng’s eyes brighten when he spots the thing he’s looking for. 

“ the chick statue !” he says, tugging on jaehyun’s sleeve while pointing to the fountain like a kid.

jaehyun chuckles. “ want to get a closer look ?”

instead of answering, sicheng skips to the water-fountain, leaving a dumbfounded jaehyun behind.

the chick water-fountain is beautiful — sculptured to the finest details, which probably costs a fortune jaehyun won’t disclose.

water pours out from the chick’s mouth and pools on the base, which resembles a pond with floating lotuses. and as said, 1028 is on the chick’s butt. _neat_ , sicheng thinks.

a hand makes its way into sicheng’s and he looks back, smiling at jaehyun. 

“ do you like it ?” jaehyun asks.

“ I love it .” sicheng beams. “ also, yukhei said congrats on this project .” 

jaehyun nods. “ what’s he doing nowadays? if I’m not mistaken he graduated already .”

“ he told me he’s working as an intern at a music company. and still model on the side, for extra income. things are easier when you have a pretty face .”

“ life must be very easy for you, then .”

sicheng scoffs as a reply.

the ground floor is full with clothes shop and more clothes shop. all of them are brandy, though, sicheng recognizes at least three world-class labels. jaehyun isn’t kidding when he says it’s a capitalist complex.

the first shop they go to is a fancy men clothing shop. a staff greets jaehyun warmly and ushers them to the section when jaehyun tells her he’s looking for coats. sicheng follows silently, scanning the shop. the clothes are pretty and the fabric feels comfy – but the colours are either white, black, grey or beige. nothing vibrant or exciting. 

sicheng’s eyes wander on the bridal boutique across the shop. there’s many beautiful dresses on display; varying from colours, sizes and designs. from one look he can tell they probably cost a leg or two.

“ do you think I’d look good in a dress ?” he blurts out.

“ you’ll look good in everything, darling .” jaehyun says absently, browsing through a wide selection of black peacoats. sicheng thinks they all look the same.

“ what if I wear one for our wedding ?” sicheng questions, leaning against the rack to gain jaehyun’s attention and biting his lip in a supposedly-seductive manner. he probably fails.

jaehyun faces him and raises both brows. “ if you’re willing to buy a matching lingerie for the wedding night .”

flirty act gone, sicheng turns red and smacks his fiancé’s back. jaehyun bursts into a hearty laugh, taking two peacoats and buying them with his black card. turns out one of them is sicheng’s, though sicheng has no idea how to differentiate them. knowing himself he’d end up stealing jaehyun's.

jaehyun ends up buying sicheng a lot. matching cartier bracelets (jaehyun’s one is silver, sicheng’s is rose gold), clothes, perfume, and things he don’t even need. even if sicheng tells him not to, jaehyun pretends he couldn’t hear him, much to sicheng’s frustration.

“ look ,” jaehyun says with a bright face, holding a black dress shirt. “ isn’t it pretty? you’ll look good in it. it’s tight, so it’ll compliment your curves well .” 

“ why are you buying me stuff? it’s your birthday. you should be treating yourself !”

“ buying you stuff is my way of treating myself ,” jaehyun shrugs. “ I get some sense of masculine pride knowing I’m more than capable to buy things for you .” 

sicheng deadpans him. “ that’s not how it works .”

“ it is for me .”

sicheng throws the shirt to jaehyun’s face. jaehyun chuckles, and when he removes the shirt he sees sicheng walking to the exit. 

“ where are you going ?”

“ I’m gonna check around. don’t worry, I won’t go far .”

jaehyun nods and sends a flying-kiss to him. sicheng catches it.

the third floor is big, so sicheng stays close to the earlier shop so he won’t get lost. he wants to buy a birthday gift for jaehyun but with how the korean’s acting just now, he would be against it if they go together, that’s why sicheng goes on his own.

a watch shop catches sicheng’s eyes. _audemars piguet_. sicheng hasn’t heard of it, but he shrugs and enters anyways.

a staff welcomes him with a friendly smile.

“ welcome, sir. may I assist you ?”

not really knowing what he’s looking for, sicheng nods. “ I want to buy a watch for my fiancé. it’s his birthday today .”

“ very well. please follow me. we have a wide range of watches for you to choose from .” 

the staff leads sicheng to a shelf. there’s a lot of watches, and when sicheng looks at the prices there’s a _lot_ of zeroes. he shrugs. it’s not every day that he buys expensive stuff for jaehyun.

he stops when he sees a certain watch. it’s pinkish golden and the strap is jet black, a beautiful contrast.

“ I want this one .” he says, pointing to the glass.

“ very well. this one is from our royal oak offshore series. it’s stunning and comfortable, your fiancé will love it .”

the staff goes to wrap the watch, while sicheng waits at the counter. two staffs – a man and a woman – stare at him as if he has two heads. sicheng lifts a brow at them.

the woman clears her throat and leans in. “ not to be rude, sir… but aren’t you jung jaehyun’s fiancé ?”

pausing, sicheng crooks a smile. they work here, of course they know jaehyun – and surely, they’ve heard the engagement announcement jaehyun made at the press yesterday. it was a shock, and sicheng’s as well as their couple pictures were all over the media. taeyong couldn’t stop teasing him about that.

“ yes, I am .”

sicheng giggles when their jaws hang down. the woman squeals, smacking her friend.

“ you’re even more good-looking in real life .” the man says.

“ just like his fiancé! god, I’m envious. talk about power couple. no wonder mister jung looked so happy talking about his engagement yesterday .”

her co-worker deadpans her, then turns to sicheng with a smile. “ please don’t mind yujin. anyways, congratulations on your engagement .”

“ thank you .” sicheng smiles. the man drags yujin away, but sicheng could hear her talking about _how cute he is_ before she leaves. he shakes his head and smiles to himself.

the staff from earlier comes back and hands sicheng a bag. he thanks her, pays then leaves with a grin on his face. he doesn’t even care that the watch makes a significant change towards his wallet, especially not when he sees jaehyun waiting for him at a bench, scrolling on his phone.

“ baobei ~” he calls singsongy. jaehyun looks up, and a smile leaves his face.

“ there you are, darling. what did you buy ?” jaehyun questions as stands up. 

sicheng brandishes the bag with a wide beam. “ your gift .”

“ my gi – what ?” jaehyun frowns. he studies the bag and frowns harder. “ winwin, that is… expensive .”

“ so what? do you think I’m not capable of buying you expensive gifts ?” sicheng pouts. jaehyun shakes his head and takes sicheng’s hand.

“ I never said that. it’s just… did you have to spend such an amount on me ?”

“ it’s your birthday, dumbass. don’t be dumb .”

before jaehyun could retort, sicheng shoves the bag to his chest. jaehyun chucks his head and chuckles, bringing sicheng closer to him, and pecks his temple.

“ thank you, pretty .” 

the seventh floor is… heaven. at least to sicheng. it’s only food as far as the eyes could see. pastries, desserts, seafood, western, grilled – all types of them. 

“ is this what paradise looks like ?” sicheng murmurs with bright eyes.

“ you said seven was your favourite number, and you love food ,” jaehyun shrugs. “ I think it’s fitting .”

jaehyun lets sicheng drag him all around the floor. they stop at almost every stall, with sicheng taking every freebies handed to him, and jaehyun buying everything sicheng wants without telling him. when sicheng scolds him again, jaehyun only grins innocently.

they end up going home somewhere around seven. after taking a warm bath, sicheng changes to his comfy onesie, and sits on the kitchen to rummage through the mountain of food they’ve bought earlier.

jaehyun joins him after, drying his hair with a towel. he kisses the top of sicheng’s head and goes to the fridge, taking his sprite out.

“ what do you want for dinner ?” jaehyun asks.

“ are you kidding me? I mean, I’m bummed. how can you have the energy to cook ?” sicheng says, taking the bag he’s looking for and sticking his hand in. 

“ I don’t mind. I’m good .” jaehyun says, flexing his muscles. sicheng throws a crumpled receipt at him.

“ let’s just eat what we bought ,” sicheng says, taking a box out. he hands it to jaehyun – who blinks at him confusedly. “ happy valentine’s day, bao .”

it’s nothing extraordinary. they’re just orange-flavoured chocolates, the only thing he bought with his own money aside from the watch (more like the only thing jaehyun lets him buy), but jaehyun has the biggest smile on his face when he takes the box. 

he takes one and eats it, eyes widening when he bites. sicheng watches as he takes one more, then two – then three at once.

“ this is good ,” jaehyun says through a mouthful. “ like, fucking good. I’m not even kidding .”

sicheng blinks. he tries to take one, but jaehyun slaps his hands away.

sicheng pouts at him. “ jaehyun .”

“ no .”

“ c’mon, don’t I get to taste it ?” he almost-whines.

jaehyun shakes his head, popping another chocolate into his mouth. “ it’s mine .”

luckily, sicheng knows jaehyun’s weaknesses well. he flashes his brightest, saddest-looking puppy eyes and pouts harder; smirking when jaehyun sighs in defeat. jaehyun takes another piece and slots it between his teeth. sicheng stares at him in confusion until jaehyun makes a come here gesture, then he’s wide-eyed.

“ no ,” sicheng says. his face is deprived off its colours, turning ghostly pale for somewhat reason. “ _no no no_ .”

jaehyun deadpans him. “ come on ,” he says. his words are slurred due to the chocolate. “ I’m your fiancé, win, we kissed zillion times .”

“ this is too cheesy. I cannot even psychically take it, I swear to god I’m shivering .” he says dramatically, wrapping arms around his body for good measures.

jaehyun makes an _are-you-kidding-me_ face. at last, sicheng has to comply.

hesitantly, sicheng leans in. he bites the chocolate away from jaehyun, but before he could pull back jaehyun grabs his nape and captures his lips into a kiss. sicheng lets out a surprised noise and jaehyun smirks, pulling him even closer by the waist, prodding his tongue at sicheng’s pink lips.

when the chocolate melts sicheng swallows and parts away. his cheeks are rosy, while his fiancé has a shit-eating grin on his face.

“ happy valentine’s day, love .”

sicheng hits his broad chest and jaehyun chuckles, stealing another chocolate-flavoured kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> so uhhhhhhhhhhh how was it? it took me 12-days ish to write this so I hope it's not utter gibberish. leave a kudos and comments perhaps, it's highly appreciated <3 have a good year in advance !!  
> cross-posted on my wattpad : sillyseo  
> edit: winwin dropped a jaewin selca IM CRY


End file.
